THE IDEAS OF 
THE OLD TESTAMENT 


FRANK GAVIN TH. D. 





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Manuals for Students of the Society for the Home 
Study of Holy Scriptures and Church History 


THE IDEAS OF 
THE OLD TESTAMENT 



FRANK,GAVIN, Th.D., 

V 

PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, GENERAL 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK. 



NEW YORK 

EDWIN S. GORHAM 

1923 




Copyright by 
EDWIN S. GORHAM 
1923 



MAR 14 '24 


f 


©C1A777535 


TO THE STUDENT 

BOOKS REQUIRED FOR ALL COURSES 

The Holy Bible, American Revised Version. A copy 
of the King James (“Authorized”) Version should be 
at hand for comparison. 

The Apocrypha, Revised Version. 

A Bible Atlas. The maps in any good Teacher’s 
Bible will generally be sufficient. 

A Dictionary of the Bible, Edited by James Hastings. 
One Volume Edition. New York: Charles Scrib¬ 
ner’s Sons. 1909. 

A large notebook, substantially bound. 

A good Bible Concordance is recommended, but it is 
not indispensable. 


MATERIALS 

For this course, no special materials need be pro¬ 
vided in addition to those demanded for all courses, 
save an outline map of the Ancient East which is to be 
bound into the notebook. 

METHOD 

(a) Every direction is to be followed literally, and 
iii 


IV 


TO THE STUDENT 


every reference to be looked up and verified in every 
instance. 

(b) The method of presentation has been deter¬ 
mined generally by historical and chronological order, 
but it has been conditioned by the subject of the course, 
as well as by the sequence of topics. 

(c) Each student prepared his own text-book. 

In any line of study, there are two prime requisites: 
knowledge of the facts, and the proper interpretation 
and evaluation of them. Both are essential. It is as 
futile to attempt to appreciate and express opinions 
about facts without knowing them, as it is a sterile and 
barren pursuit to rest satisfied with the mere acquisi¬ 
tion of data. 


SCHEME 

Under each topic will be given assignments for study 
for the period of hours represented in the number or 
numbers prefixed to the assignment. Since the sub¬ 
ject matter in this course does not admit of partition 
into small periods, it was thought well not to attempt so 
minute a subdivision of time as would impair the con¬ 
tinuity and scope of the study of the topic as a whole. 

The writing in the notebook is of the greatest pos¬ 
sible importance, and must be done at the conclusion 
of every study period. 


PURPOSE 

The chief purpose of this course is to trace and as- 


TO THE STUDENT 


v 


similate the course of God’s self-revelation to man, and 
of man’s dawning and growing appreciation of God and 
His will. 


END 

There are two ways of knowing anything, which 
might be described as the knowledge about a thing, and 
knowing the thing: in other words knowledge in the 
ablative and in the accusative case. 

The Bible is the record of spiritual phenomena, and 
so cannot be solely understood by the intellect, but 
must, like the Real Presence, be “spiritually discerned.” 
Every topic should be made the occasion for prayer in 
some form or other, just as the study period should be 
preceded by the recitation of the Collect for the 
Second Sunday in Advent. The translation into spir¬ 
itual terms and the repointing into the form of personal 
religious experience, should be the definite end of every 
hour spent in the study of this course. 

Note 

The hours given for assignments are only rough 
approximations, and should be regarded as suggestive 
and not treated as regulative. 



















SECTION I 


STUDIES I-32 


i-3 

The Bible. Read s. v. “Bible” in H. B. D., §§ 1, 3; 
“Testament” in H. B. D., Bible (Ta Biblia, Greek) 
means “books”. It is a neuter plural, but because of 
its apparent similarity to a singular feminine noun in 
Latin, this word came to be thought of as a singular 
rather than a plural form. The Bible is a collection of 
books, written at vastly different times, by different 
people, and under different circumstances. 

On the basis of your reading answer the following 
questions: What is probably the oldest portion of the 
Bible? Make a tentative list of the dates of the O. T. 
books by centuries. What does the word “testament” 
mean? 


4-5 

The languages of the Old Testament. Read s. v. 
“Bible” in H. B. D., § 4; “Text, Versions, and Lan¬ 
guages of O. T.” in H. B. D., §§ 1-11. Most of the 
O. T. is written in Hebrew, which was the spoken 
language of Canaan and became the great classical lan¬ 
guage of the Jews from about the tenth century b. c. 

1 


2 THE IDEAS OF 

Aramaic succeeded Hebrew as the living tongue after 
the Exile. 

What portions of the O. T. are written in Aramaic ? 
What language besides Aramaic contributed to the 
Hebrew vocabulary? If the Hebrew alphabet was 
written without vowels how do we know how the words 
were pronounced? Define Massorah. 


6-7 

The Geography of the Ancient 'East. Read s. v. 
‘‘Palestine” in H. B. D., §§ 1-3; compare map I. in 
H. B. D. (facing p. xvi), and on your outline map 
mark the main physical characteristics, the chief bodies 
of water, towns and cities, and nations of the ancient 
world. 


8-11 

The Canon of the Old Testament. Read s. v. “Bible” 
in H. B. D., § 2 and s. v. “Canon of the Old Testa¬ 
ment” in H. B. D. If we compare the English Old 
Testament which we have in our hands with the He¬ 
brew Bible, two facts will at once become apparent: 
it is a translation from the Hebrew and Aramaic, and 
the arrangement of books is very different from that in 
the Hebrew Bible. 

Read St. Matt. 7:12; 22:40; St. Luke 16:16-17; 
St. John 7: 19. Notice that in these passages reference 
is made to two well defined groups of O. T. books 
the “Law” and the “Prophets.” The Hebrew Bible 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


3 


is divided into three sections, of which two are referred 
to in the above N. T. passages. 

What are the three periods of the formation of the 
O. T. canon? At what approximate times were the 
“Law” and the “Prophets” listed in final form? 
What books are contained in the third division ( Kethub - 
him, or Hagiographa) ? At what time was the list of 
books of the O. T. finally drawn up? Define “canon”. 
Make a list of the books of the Hebrew Canon. 

12 

The Synagogue and the O. T. Read s. v. “Syna¬ 
gogue” in H. B. D. In the Synagogue Lectionary two 
systems of readings were in vogue at the first Chris¬ 
tian century: in one (the Palestinian) the Torah was 
distributed through a period of three and a half years, 
while in the other (the Babylonian) it was read through 
as a whole each year. The Hebrew words used for 
Pentateuch are “torah” which means “law,” and “cho- 
mesh” or a phrase which means “the five-fifths of the 
Law.” In the Synagogue every Sabbath were read 
two lessons, one from the Law, and one from tho 
Prophets ( haftarah ). 

When did the institution of the Synagogue arise? 
Why? What influence did liturgical usage have upon 
the canon of the O. T.? 


13-15 

.The Septuagint , Read s. v . “Text, Version, and 


4 


THE IDEAS OF 


Languages of the Old Testament,” §§ 14, 15 (1) and 
“Greek versions of Old Testament,” I. §§ 1-14, i n 
H. B. D. 

What does the word Septuagint mean? What is the 
traditional legend in regard to its origin? What con¬ 
siderable differences are there between LXX and the 
Hebrew O. T., in regard to length of books, number 
of books, and canon? 


16-17 

Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament. Read 
s. v. “Greek Version of Old Testament” II, III, IV, 
in H. B. D. 

Give a brief account of the translations of Aquila, 
Theodotion, and Symmachus. Why was a Greek ver¬ 
sion of the O. T. necessary? Why did the Synagogue 
cede its claim on the LXX to the Christian Church? 
What differences in the text of Isaiah 7: 14 (compare 
St. Matt. 1:23) appear in the LXX, the Hebrew, and 
the later Greek versions? 


18 

Other Versions of the Old Testament. Read s. v. 
“Targums” in H. B. D. 

What were the Targums? Name some of the chief 
targumim. What does the word “dragoman!’ mean? 
Why was an interpreter or methurgeman necessary in 
the Aramaic speaking synagogues? 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


5 


19-20 

Chronology of the Old Testament. Read “Chro¬ 
nology of the Old Testament/’ in H. B. D. The task 
of obtaining a stable chronology for ancient documents 
is not at all easy, since the enthusiasm for accurate 
dates is exceedingly modern. There have been many 
systems of dating. Our own is based on the sup¬ 
posed time of our Lord’s birth. The modern Jewish 
reckoning takes its beginning from the traditional date 
of Creation. The Greeks dated by Olympiads and the 
Romans a(h) u(rbe) c(ondita). Until the Maccabean 
rising there was no fixed method of dating among the 
Jews except by royal dynasties. This method, em¬ 
ployed in the Old Testament, had two notable loop¬ 
holes : (a) the Interregna and (b) the Fractional Years. 
Compare II. Kings 18: QfT. Note in these verses the 
siege of Samaria is said to have begun in the fourth 
year of Hezekiah and to have ended in the sixth year 
of Hezekiah, yet it says that “at the end of three years 
they took it” (vs. 9-10). (Compare with this the 
three days of Christ’s being in the grave, and the dif¬ 
ferent usages in the Gospels,—“for three days”, and 
“on the third day”.) In the very early parts of the 
Bible, namely, the account of the years from the Crea¬ 
tion to the Flood, the old Samaritan Pentateuch, the 
Hebrew, and the LXX all disagree for the sum of the 
years. By these three authorities the total numbers 
of years for this period are respectively 1307, 1656, and 
2242. Not only is this the case in the legendary pe- 


6 


THE IDEAS OF 


riod, but the same three texts number from the period 
of the Flood to the birth of Abraham: 940, 290, and 

1170 years respectively. Furthermore in I. and II. 
Kings there is an attempt to make cross-references be¬ 
tween the kings of Israel and Judah. Rehoboam and 
Jeroboam came to the throne at the same time, also 
Athaliah and Jehu, yet the number of years in this 
supposed synchronized account for the very same pe¬ 
riod is not the same, for it is 95 in one list and 98 in 
the other. Furthermore, we need some extra Biblical 
fixed point of dating in order to get a starting place for 
ancient Hebrew history. There is a document called 
the Assyrian Calendar or Canon containing the eponym 
lists from about 900 b. c. to 650 b. c. From the men¬ 
tion of an eclipse in 763 b. c. we are able to obtain a 
fixed starting point. In the second century a. d. an 
Alexandrian named Ptolemy compiled a chronicle with 
astronomical notes from the year 747 b. c. giving the 
reigns of the Babylonian kings. It is by means of 
the coincidences between Ptolemy and the Eponym 
Calendar that we can find a second point from which 
to date. In the Assyrian inscriptions there are many 
cross-references to events noted in the Old Testament, 
—e. g., Ahab, at the Battle of Karkar 854 b. c., Jehu, 
and his payment of tribute 842 b. c., the Fall of Sa¬ 
maria, end of 722 b. c., the invasion of Sennacherib 
701 b. c., and so forth. The dates obtained by this 
means are also validated by other ancient sources. So 
we have as a result a fairly stable chronology from the 
time of David on. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


7 

Write a paragraph on the Chronology of the Old 
Testament. 


21-22 

Development of Thought in the Old Testament. 
Even a superficial acquaintance with the O. T. will 
show that between Genesis and Malachi there is a great 
sweep of progressive development in the thought of 
the inspired writers in regard to God. Compare, e. g., 
Genesis 1:26; 3:8; 6:2; with some of the loftiest 
words of the later prophets about God. The primitive 
anthropomorphism of the earlier passages is the more 
apparent as we see it in relation to the ideas of the later 
writers. Man’s apprehension of God is conditioned by 
his own stage of development Cf. Hebrews 1: 1-2. 
The O. T. is the record of man’s religious experience 
of God, who in His turn graduated His revelation to 
man in accordance with man’s growth in capacity and 
in the power of appreciation of His Will. It is pre¬ 
cisely in this view of Holy Scripture,—that it is not 
an even plain without distinction of parts in relation to 
the whole,—that modern knowledge and investigation 
have brought so much to the study of the Bible. 

Was the Bible written to be a compendium of all 
knowledge, or is it a record of man’s search for God 
and of God’s revelation of Himself to man? Write a 
paragraph contrasting the two views of the Bible, as: 
(a) a fixed, mechanical, quasi-magical revelation of 
God’s Will to man, and as (b) a record of the develop- 


8 


THE IDEAS OF 


ing perception on man’s part of His Will, and God’s 
co-operative imparting of His Will to man, conditioned 
by man’s own capacity to receive. 

23 

Miracles in the Old Testament. The whole subject 
of miracles in the O. T. is one which is often avoided 
in order not to wound too greatly the susceptibilities of 
students. It is well, however, to approach the whole 
question with frankness and honesty. There are a 
great many problems presented by the record of mir¬ 
acles in the O. T. Among them may be suggested the 
following: What is meant by a “miracle”? Can we 
believe all the miracles of the O. T. ? Are miracles 
really possible ? Do miracles violate the order of “nat¬ 
ural law”? Are the accounts of them credible? 

To begin with, a miracle, properly speaking, is some¬ 
thing which occurs in the natural order, which cannot 
normally be assigned to a cause ordinarily operating in 
nature. In other words, there is the further question 
as to the action of a cause, not ordinarily functioning, 
to account for the phenomena usually described as 
“miraculous”. From the scientific point of view the 
whole question is one of evidence. To say in advance 
that anything is impossible is the height of presump¬ 
tion, for it would imply that we know all the things 
which are possible. Scientifically speaking, “natural 
laws” are merely observed sequences of cause and ef¬ 
fect. That one series of causes produces one particular 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


9 


effect is simply another way of stating what we mean 
by a “natural law” 

As there are many “natural laws” there cannot ob¬ 
viously be any conflict between them: that a + b — x 
does not contradict the proposition that c + b — y. 
If we have the former Equation (a + b = x) already 
known to be a valid “law,” then if we have what looks 
like a but what we know to be b producing a result 
which is not x but q, we are compelled to say that the 
first member cannot be a but must be some other cause. 
The occurrence, for example, of some phenomena 
which do not follow the laws we have already become 
accustomed to, cannot be said to “violate” any of these 
laws. Such an occurrence becomes the instance of the 
operation of a new “law,”—perhaps the only instance. 
The more extraordinary it appears, the more right we 
have to demand a higher degree of evidence for it. 

To the mind of the ancient Jew there was no such 
distinction of “causes” as that to which the modern 
mind has become so accustomed: we speak of God as 
the primary “Cause” and of the powers of Nature as 
“secondary causes”. We shall see by our study of 
O. T. literature that there was no distinction of “miracu¬ 
lous” and “non-miraculous” in the O. T. Just as God 
is the Cause of all that is (as Creator and Sustainer of 
the Universe), so He, as cause, lies behind all that oc¬ 
curs. The distinction, then, between miraculous and 
natural is an anachronism and anomaly, from the 
standpoint of the literature we are about to study. 

We may not deny the “miraculous” unless we know 


10 


THE IDEAS OF 


all about not only all the causes and effects possible in 
the natural universe, but also about all of God’s powers, 
capacities, and Will. As was said above, the whole 
question is one of evidence. It is neither scientific nor 
reasonable to rule out the possibility of miracle, to pre¬ 
judge the data in regard to the miraculous, or to deny 
in advance the legitimacy of those narratives which 
embody the evidence for phenomena which we cannot 
but regard as miraculous. If there be a God, how do 
you know that He did not act in the way the inspired 
records describe Him ? 

Think over the whole question of miracles in the 
O. T., and on the basis of your thinking and reading 
prepare a brief essay on the subject. 

24-25 

Pre-prophetic Religion . Read s. v. “Israel,” II. 
religion. 3. The pre-Prophetic religion in Canaan 
(pp. 411-413), in H. B. D. Before the people at 
large could comprehend and act upon all the impli¬ 
cations involved in true monotheism, there was inevi¬ 
tably necessary a transition period during which the 
prophetic message was gradually making itself ef¬ 
fective. It is difficult for us to realize how persistent 
and tenacious was the hold of inadequate and partial 
conceptions of religion. 

Cf. I. Sam. 26: 19b; II. Kings 5: 17; 17:25-28. In 
each of these passages it will be noticed that the under¬ 
lying thought about God conceives him to be a deity 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


ii 


with a kind of territorial jurisdiction, like a Bishop. 
David was driven into exile, which necessarily in¬ 
volved, in the popular understanding, his allegiance to 
the god of his new land and his foreswearing of alle¬ 
giance to his home-country god. Naaman felt that so 
long as he had a concrete piece of the territory of the 
God of Israel, he could worship Him wherever he 
might be. ( Compare the notion of extra-territoriality: 
European embassies in foreign countries are considered 
to be extensions of the territory of the home country.) 
In the third illustration, the new colonists did not wor¬ 
ship the Lord (II. Kings 17: 25a), and, being ignorant 
“of the manner of the “god of the land,” they incurred 
his displeasure. When the imported priest from Sa¬ 
maria had “taught them how they should fear (1= zvor- 
ship) the Lord”, all was well with them. 

In all primitive religions there was a trinity of re¬ 
lationships in indissoluble unity: the “god of the land,” 
the people, and the land itself. The interests of all 
three were conceived to be identical. It was to the 
god’s own self-interest that his people should prosper, 
and to their interest that they should “keep in with” 
their god. Notice that throughout the early history of 
religions the nation was considered as an undivided 
group even though individual persons may have 
had their own religious duties. In the story of 
Achan ben Carmi (cf. Joshua 7) the guilt of the 
individual person’s sin is transferred to the whole 
people. 

So long as ethical and moral obligations were simply 


12 


THE IDEAS OF 


the fulfillment in obedience of the will of the god, it is 
obvious that no code of morals could be regarded as of 
universal obligation. Morals had their sanction from 
religion, and were developed gradually and experi¬ 
mentally. There was no conception in primitive re¬ 
ligion either of a Deity, the sole God of the universe, 
or of a declared will of this One, Sole, and Only God 
which code was of universal binding force upon all 
men everywhere. Moreover, there was not the least 
sign in pre-prophetic Jewish religion of a tendency to 
philosophize upon the fundamental postulates of either 
religion or ethics. The approach in all cases was prag¬ 
matic. 

In early Semitic religion, each community came to 
have its own Baal or master. The Baal was some¬ 
times masculine, and often two deities, male and fe¬ 
male, were worshipped side by side. The will of the 
deity was discerned, expounded, and interpreted by his 
priests or his seers. It was an extremely practical 
affair, for what made for the good and the success of 
his people was legitimate and right, received his ap¬ 
proval, and was invested with divine sanction. It was 
not until much later that the ideals and ideas of pro¬ 
phetic religion came in to expand, and in large part to 
supplant, the conceptions and customs of pre-prophetic 
religion. 

Write, on the basis of your reading and thinking, 
a brief essay on the Pre-prophetic Religion of Israel, 
noting the traces of its survival, in debased and popular 
form, into the time of the prophets. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


13 


26-27 

Certain Conventions of Prophecy. It is well to 
point out that there are certain definite “conventions” 
common to prophetic literature. The language of the 
prophets was that of their contemporaries, and the 
figures of speech, poetical usages, and symbolic actions 
were all not only characteristic, but also entirely com¬ 
prehensible to the people of their day. It is, however, 
vitally necessary for us (whose point of view is so 
radically divergent from that of the prophets, and who 
are so widely separated, both in time, racial background, 
and outlook, from the prophets) to become conscious of 
certain principles which will help to render intelligible 
the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. 

In the first place, it is quite true that the prophet’s 
function was occasionally that of foretelling (cf. I. 
Kings 22:6; I. Sam. 30:8; Amos 3:7). But, as 
Bishop Gore says: “It is not in predictions fulfilled 
that their chief function is to be sought; it is in their 
message about God and His nature, His character, and 
His purpose—and about man’s capacity, responsibility, 
and true hope” ( Belief in God, pp. 91-92). The 
prophet’s function, then, was not so much foretelling as 
telling forth. 

Secondly, a matter of prime importance in the under¬ 
standing of prophetic literature is the significance of 
the if-clause, or the conditional element. Micah 3:12 
seems to predict the fall of Jerusalem as a definite cer¬ 
tainty, yet Jer. 26: 19 suggests that his contemporaries 


14 


THE IDEAS OF 


rightly rejected this idea. In other words, even when 
the conditional element was not made explicit, it was 
popularly understood and taken for granted (cf. Jonah; 
Jer. 18:6-8; Ezek. 18; Zeph. 2:1-3; Amos 5:15). 
I. Sam. 2:30 illustrates the converse of this principle, 
that promised blessings can be forfeited by bad con¬ 
duct. Kuenen makes a comment pertinent to one of 
the references adduced above: “The business of 
Zephaniah is not to predict what shall he, but to depict 
that which cannot fail to happen unless the people re¬ 
pent and forsake their sins” (The Prophets and Proph¬ 
ecy in Israel, Eng. trans., 1877, p. 172). This con¬ 
ditional element also throws light upon God’s attitude 
towards man, especially in the places where, in the 
terms of human language, He is described as “re¬ 
penting Himself” of this or that course of action. In 
other words, God’s relation to man is conditional by 
man’s attitude towards God: repentance on man’s part 
may completely alter the circumstances which God has 
to deal with. 

A third factor of importance is the proper under¬ 
standing of the time element in prophecy. “Everlast¬ 
ing”, in Deut. 15:17, means permanent, not eternal; 
cf. Amos 9: 15 for illustration of the same principle. 
The element of time 1 is further important because of 
the prophetic convention of seeing history in a pano¬ 
rama, as if the past were at hand in the present, and the 
whole formed one continuous perspective. Thus Amos 

1 Cf., for another application of this same principle, s. v , 
“Number”, § 5, in H. B. D. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


15 

1 ff., Zech. 9:1-8, and Isaiah 10:33-12 link together 
events widely separated in time. The use of “in 
that day” forms part of the permanent imagery of 
prophecy. 

Clo'sely connected with this time element is a fourth 
point of considerable significance. The prophet did 
not have the expedient of secondary causes to account 
for the phenomena of experience. The prophetic view 
of history was always purposive, and, as often as not, 
all effects were assigned to God as the one Cause. 
This is apparent in the Book of Job, and in Ecclesiastes. 
We modern people frequently have recourse to the 
principle of secondary causes whenever we approach 
problems of theodicy or attempt to deal with the prob¬ 
lem of evil. For illustrative material cf., for example, 
s. v. “harden (ed) his heart” in any good concordance. 

Write briefly, on the basis of your reading and think¬ 
ing, of these four prophetic conventions, and estimate 
in advance the difference they make in our assumptions 
when we approach the study of O. T. prophecy. 

28-29 

Prophecy and Prophets. Read s. v. “Prophecy, 
Prophets” in H. B. D., §§ 1-3. 

What three periods are there in the development of 
prophecy in the O. T.? Contrast the regular “pro¬ 
fessional” prophet with the inspired prophet, as regards 
(a) call, (b) impelling power, and (c) content of mes¬ 
sage. What was the firm conviction in the minds of 


16 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


the great prophets as to the authority of their message? 
Did the message of the great prophets correspond with, 
or run counter to, the popular tendencies of their days ? 

30 

Review Studies 1-7. 


3i 

Review Studies 8-18. 


32 

Review Studies 19-27. 


SECTION II 


STUDIES 33-64 

33-34 

The Prophecy of Amos. Read s. v. “Amos” in H. 
B. D., and chapters 1-3 of the prophecy. With what 
has been said as to pre-prophetic religion in Israel, com¬ 
pare Amos 3:2. Note: (a) Amos’ thinking is based 
on nationalistic premises, but the conclusion (2b) could 
not but seem a non seqnitur to his contemporaries; (b) 
the principle that peculiar privilege involves peculiar re¬ 
sponsibility is implied in this verse; (c) the punishment 
upon Israel’s sin is to be retributive, not remedied. 

Contrast the thought of Amos in 3:2 with the ordi¬ 
nary assumptions of popular religion: How would the 
ordinary Israelite, unilluminated by the revelation of 
Amos’ inspiration, find the second half of verse two im¬ 
possible? Why would the fact be difficult to recognise 
that special prerogative implies added duties and re¬ 
sponsibilities ? What is meant by the distinction be¬ 
tween retributive and remedial punishment? 

35-37 

Religion and Righteousness. Read ch. 4-8 inclu¬ 
sive. What conception does Amos bring out of the 
17 


i8 


THE IDEAS OF 


relation between religion and righteousness? Cf., par¬ 
ticularly, 4:1-5; 5 : 7 _I 3 J 6:1-6; 8:4-7- Note: (a) 
Amos’ indictment of the heathen (1-2: 1-3) is because 
the heathen have transgressed the common law of hu¬ 
manity; (b) his indictment of Israel is because right¬ 
eousness has not accompanied devotion to the Lord,— 
love of God must involve love of one’s neighbor. 

What is the great contribution of Judaism to the 
conception of the bond between religion and morality? 
On what basis does Amos condemn the heathen? the 
Israelites ? 


38-39 

Amos' Conception of God. Reread the whole proph¬ 
ecy. While Amos speaks of the awful majesty, might, 
and transcendence of God (cf. 4:13; 5:8; 7:4; 9:1 
fL), yet it is not God as Creator and Sustainer, so 
much as the God of righteousness that the prophet 
would have his contemporaries regard the Lord. Amos 
inveighs against the popular conception of religion, 
which would conceive God as a person who would be 
conciliated and propitiated by His sinful people if only 
He be offered sufficient sacrifices (cf. 5:21-25). 

Is there any modern parallel between the popular no¬ 
tion of Amos’ day, that men can keep on the good side 
of God by conciliating Him with sacrifices as a means 
of dispelling His anger at their unrighteous acts, and 
any form of the popular notion of God today? What 
was the ground on which Amos declaimed against sacri¬ 
fices in God’s name? 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


19 


40-41 

The Vocation of Amos. Read 7 : 10-15 ; 1: 1. God’s 
declaration of His will to Amos and His vocation of 
the prophet constituted an imperative call, of which the 
prophet was keenly aware. Note how vastly different 
was the main content of the prophets message from the 
popular conception of religion. 

What radical divergence is apparent (between the 
lines) in Amos’ consciousness of his vocation from that 
of the “professional” prophet? Can you account for 
Amos as a natural product of his generation whether 
(a) as concerns his call or (b) as concerns the matter 
of his prophecy? 


42 

Critical Note. Read 9: 8b-15. How does this agree 
with the chief burden of the prophecy, as regards the 
threat of imminent punishment? (Note particularly 
verses 11-12. What state of affairs do they presup¬ 
pose ?) 


43-44 

The Prophecy of Ho sea. Read chapters 1 to 3 in¬ 
clusive. This prophecy is dated (1: 1), hence we have 
a definite time and occasion for it. These chapters 
narrate the story of the relation between the unfaithful 
wife and her husband, symbolically showing thereby 
the relation between Israel and the Lord. The figure is 


20 


THE IDEAS OF 


occasionally blurred. The dominant thought is that 
the relation is one of steady, persistent, and constant 
love on God’s part towards Israel. In order to secure 
her reclamation God is to isolate Israel; conversion is 
to be the result of Israel’s exile and bondage. Note 
that the banishment is remedial and not solely retribu¬ 
tive. 

Compare Amos’ treatment of the punishment of 
Israel. What significant difference do you notice? 

45-47 

The Content of Hosea’s Prophecy. Read chapters 
4 to 14. Hosea was a northerner who knew his own 
country better than did Amos. He also prophesied for 
a longer time (perhaps ten years). This is apparent 
from the indictment of particular classes of people for 
their wrong doings. (Compare chapters 4 and 5.) 
The Lord demands repentance, revival, and conversion, 
but the people deny their sins (8:2) and have a false 
confidence in their relationship to the Lord. Despite 
the ever-manifested constancy of His Love to them 
(11:1-4). Israel displays pride and ingratitude (cf. 
11: 13: 1 ff.). God will not deal with Israel as with a 
man exacting due retribution from one who has wronged 
Him (11:9). Israel has totally misconceived his re¬ 
lation to God, for popular devotion has presumed upon 
the false identity of the interests of Israel and Israel’s 
God (6:6 ff.). Israel’s lapse into the lower plane 
of religion, on which the non-Jewish contemporaries 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


21 


lived, accompanied the too intimate relations with the 
heathen about them. Hosea bewails the present civil¬ 
ization of Israel and looks back with longing to the 
earlier stages of Israel’s history, when the intimacy be¬ 
tween God and Israel was so close. All alien methods 
of devotion must be purged away (compare 2:16- 
17; 4-6; 9:1; 10:5; 13:2). Note: (a) the chief re¬ 
lation between God and Israel is that of love; (b) 
this love does not derogate from God’s righteousness, 
for love cannot have an object unworthy of it; (c) 
while God’s loving is not extinguished by sin it yet de¬ 
mands repentance and conversion, so remedial punish¬ 
ment is necessary; (d) the subject of religion is the 
people of Israel, not the individual Israelite. 

What is the dominant notion in Hosea of the rela¬ 
tion between God and Israel ? Is there any apparent 
antithesis between love and righteousness in the char¬ 
acter of God ? What conception of sin does the proph¬ 
ecy imply ? What apparent limitation is there in Hosea 
as regards the individual as the subject of religion? 

48-49 

The Permanent Element in Hosea. Read s. v. 
“Hosea,” and “Hosea, book of” in H. B. D. 

In the light of your study of the prophecy itself and 
of these articles make your own estimate as to the work 
of Hosea, and write a paragraph under the caption 
given above, using the following questions as sugges¬ 
tions : In what does his greatness lie ? What book of 


22 


THE IDEAS OF 


the Pentateuch seems strongly to emphasise the 
same point of view as his? In what respects did 
Hosea make distinctive contribution to Christian 
theology ? 


50-52 

Isaiah’s Call. Read Isaiah 1-12; chapter 6 contains 
the account of the call of Isaiah. Note that it is the 
vision of God’s majesty (6: 1-4) that elicits repentance 
and the consciousness of sin (compare St. Luke 5:8). 
In the vision of Isaiah, God’s chief attribute is that of 
holiness. The word “holy” means unapproachable; it 
expresses the inviolable character of the Godhead. 
Isaiah is deeply conscious of the impelling and impera¬ 
tive power of his vocation (6:8 ff.). It is a com¬ 
mission to deliver a message, the result of which will be 
the stupefaction and blinding of its recipients. It is 
naturally put in the form of purpose; so deep-seated is 
the pride and complacence of Judah, so great is the 
confidence and satisfaction of their presuming assur¬ 
ance, that the message will only result in the further 
steeling of the hearts of the sinful nation. Judah has 
deserted the Lord (1: 2-6; reread 1: 10-20). God can¬ 
not be bought off by sacrifice. The awful majesty of 
the Lord (compare 2: 10-22) will not be compromised 
by winking at oppression. The fruits of Judah’s gen¬ 
erosity are not those which the Lord demands (com¬ 
pare parable of the vineyard 5: 1-7). Chapters 5:8; 
10: 3 include the seven woes against different types of 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


*3 


sinners. The sequence has occasionally been inter¬ 
rupted whether by the prophet himself or by subsequent 
arrangement of the material. 

What was it which elicited Isaiah’s confession of sin¬ 
fulness ? What attribute of God is dominant in Isaiah’s 
conception of Him? What attribute of God is it which 
makes Judah’s sin so heinous. Why is it that Isaiah 
condemns the sacrificial system? 

53-54 

Contemporary History and Isaiah's Message. There 
are four historical events which constitute the notable 
political changes during the period covered by Isaiah’s 
prophecy: (a) the invasion of Judah by the allied 
armies of Israel and Syria, 736-735 (cf. 7) ; (b) the 
Assyrian Western Campaign which reached the west¬ 
ern seaboard, 720; (c) the Assyrian Campaign of 711; 
and (d) the crisis of 705-704: revolt of Hezekiah vs. 
Sennacherib. King Ahaz, counter to Isaiah’s advice, 
wanted to call in the help of the Assyrians in the crisis. 
The King of Assyria took Gilead and Galilee in 734 
(during which year also we have data from Assyrian 
sources which show that Pekah was conquered by Tig- 
lath-pileser, that Ahaz paid tribute, and that Hoshea 
succeeded Pekah). Ten years later, in 722, Samaria 
fell. Isaiah 7: 10-16, has to do with the first crisis 
noted above. The point of vs. 14-15 is, that before a 
child, born under the present circumstances, shall come 
to adolescence, the land which Ahaz fears will be de- 


24 


THE IDEAS OF 


stroyed. It is obvious that Isaiah made distinct ap¬ 
plication of his divine message to the political crises 
of his day. Notice that the Lord is conceived to be 
the Master of circumstance and the Orderer of the Uni¬ 
verse (cf. 7: 18-19). 

Write briefly on the relation between the spiritual 
message of the prophet and the concrete issues of the 
day. Did the prophet confine himself simply to ab¬ 
stract teaching? Is God above and beyond all the in¬ 
terest of human history or are they His immediate 
concern ? How does Isaiah bridge the gap between the 
eternal and the temporal? How does he relate the 
two? 


55-56 

The Holy God and Sinful Men. Read s. v. “Isaiah” 
in H. B D. According to Isaiah’s mind the issue was 
perfectly clear: God cannot contaminate His holiness 
by winking at the sins of unrighteous men, no matter 
how zealous they might appear in performing His 
worship. Compare 5:7b; ‘‘judgment” and “oppres¬ 
sion” in Hebrew, like “righteousness” and “cry,” are 
both puns. He reviles the worship of the “godlets” 
(1: 11) ; he addresses his prophecy to the “Sodom rul¬ 
ers of a Gomorrah people” (verse 10). He denounces 
recourse to “ghosts that squeak and gibber” (8:9-10). 
God cannot accept the worship of unrighteous men; it 
is abominable and blasphemous, for it is based on the 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


25 

premise that God can be bribed. God cannot com¬ 
promise Himself with crimes against justice. 

What new element does Isaiah introduce into the 
idea of God which makes men’s sin so peculiarly hor¬ 
rible? What is the blasphemy implied in the type of 
popular religion, which would suggest that God is 
bribable ? 


57-58 

Comparison of the Messages of Amos, Ho sea, and 
Isaiah. Isaiah is much more largely influenced by 
Amos than by any one else. He deals with social and 
religious abuses, as we have seen,—idolatry, oppression, 
social injustice, sorcery, and necromancy. Isaiah says 
of Judah what Amos said of Israel. 

Note the significance of the conception of sin. In 
Amos, sin is a violation of the universal principles of 
right of which God is guardian; in Hosea, it is the 
faithless breach of a personal relation; but in Isaiah, 
it is the proud and complacent self-sufficiency zvith 
which men exalt themselves before God, a blasphemous 
pride of the creature which insults the divine majesty; 
thus God must become the Avenger, inasmuch as He is 
the Lord of the earth, and therefore calls in the heathen 
to vindicate His righteous majesty flouted by human 
arrogance (10:5 fif.). 

Isaiah’s conception of God involves the conspicuous 
attribute of inviolability (compare 6:). He sets God 


26 


THE IDEAS OF 


above the world in a way that neither predecessor has 
done. God only is exalted, terrible, awful. Nothing 
human or creaturely has the right to vaunt itself in the 
presence of God’s majesty. 

Compare and contrast the three great prophets’ teach¬ 
ing in regard to (a) sin, and (b) the character of God. 
What is meant by God’s “transcendence”? 

59-60 

Isaiah's Unique Message. Another conspicuous con¬ 
tribution of Isaiah is his grasp upon the providential 
and directing character of God’s guidance of history. 
Isaiah sees a purpose being worked out in the world’s 
history, with God as the Source, Administrator, and 
Governor of all the means required to attain this end. 
This end is a good world. As this is the case, it is the 
duty of man to abase himself before God’s majesty and 
realise his own insignificance and impotence. Man’s 
proper attitude towards God is that of trust, of confi¬ 
dence in the Lord who is both able and willing to do the 
best for His people. (Notice, in this connection, 
Isaiah’s condemnation of foreign alliances.) 

In the last crisis (701), Judah was almost miracu¬ 
lously delivered, which fact redounded greatly to the 
credit of the prophet. (Read the historical setting of 
the situation, Isaiah 23-37, ln H- Kings 18 :i7-i9-.37.) 

Besides his notion of sin and his portraiture of the 
character of God, what other great contribution to re¬ 
ligious knowledge did Isaiah present? This third ele- 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


27 


ment, the discernment of purpose in human history 
and the affirmation of God’s providence, necessarily in¬ 
volves what response on the part of men ? Has the no¬ 
tion of religion become individualized even in Isaiah? 

61-62 

The Prophecy of Micah. Read Micah 1-3; “Micah 
the Morasthite,” and “Micah, Book of” in H. B. D. 
Mi. was a younger contemporary of Isaiah. He pre¬ 
sents the same picture of social abuses and unrighteous 
actions as does Isaiah, but his point of view is subtly 
different: Isaiah sees the oppression by the rich and 
wealthy of the small landlord or tenant farmer from 
the standpoint of the aristocrat; Micah sees it from the 
point of view of the resident of the small town. There 
is more personal bitterness in his indictment than in 
Isaiah’s. Samaria is not yet destroyed (cf. 1: 1-8). 
Chapters 2 and 3 narrate the sins of the people,—from 
the land-grabbing of the aristocrat down to the false 
prophets who took bribes. The sinful people relies 
upon a false relation to the national God, which is the 
height of presumptious blasphemy since their attitude 
presupposes that their God is like them. Note that 3:12 
is quoted in Jeremiah 26: 18. The two distinctive fea¬ 
tures of these chapters are: (a) the added note of per¬ 
sonal bitterness, and (b) the greater explicitness as to 
the destruction of Jerusalem. 

What personal note distinguishes the tone of Micah’s 
condemnation of abuses from Isaiah’s? Why is a false 


28 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


reliance on a supposed privileged position in relation to 
their God, the very worst blasphemy on the part of 
Israel? Why is the destruction of Jerusalem morally 
inevitable? In what respects is M.’s prediction differ¬ 
ent in quality and timbre from that of Isaiah? 

6 3 

Review Studies 31-47. 

64 


Review Studies 48-62 


SECTION III 


STUDIES 65-94 
65-66 

The Prophecy of Zephaniah. Read the Prophecy 
and s. v . “Zeph.” in H. B. D. Note that chapters 1 
and 2 are connected, but that 3 stands off by itself. 
The chief Characteristic of the prophet is his moral 
earnestness, his conviction as to the necessity of simple 
and complete devotion to the Lord, and his flaming 
consciousness of the judgment to come. 

What verses in chapter 3 suggest post-exilic author¬ 
ship? What prophet whom we have studied is the 
source of Zeph.’s message? Give a brief account of 
the time and occasion of the prophecy. 

67-68 

The Prophecy of Nahum. Read the text of the 
prophecy, and s. v. “Nahum” in H. B. D. The actual 
prophecy comes after 2:2. The first portion is a 
psalm about God, containing the assertion of his uni¬ 
versal sway, and the deduction as to His relation to 
Judah and Assyria. This portion is an alphabetical 
poem,—forcible, vivid, full of imagery, and pictorial. 
The whole prophecy has a unique literary character. 

29 


30 


THE IDEAS OF 


What notable difference in point of view is there 
in this prophecy ? Upon what nation does the prophet 
fix his gaze? What attribute of God (stern austerity 
or patient mercy) is to the fore in Nahum’s portraiture 
of Him? What powerful conviction as to God’s rela¬ 
tion to the moral order in the world lies back of all his 
thinking ? 


69-70 

The Prophecy of Habakkuk. Read the text of the 
prophecy and v. “Habakkuk” in H. B. D. Note how 
different, both in style and method and in point of view, 
is this prophecy from the others which we have been 
studying. It is a prophecy based upon the reflection of 
religious insight pondering over the evidence of God’s 
providential dealings with His world. Chapter 3 is of 
a different quality from the first two chapters. It 
might well have been a separate composition, yet its 
underlying thought brings to a dramatic climax the 
chief idea of chapters 1 and 2. Note how the prob¬ 
lems of theodicy (1:12-17) here engage the concen¬ 
trated attention of the prophet. 

What later book is modelled in form as well as guided 
in content by this prophecy? How does the prophet 
answer the questions asked in 1: 13? What is the sig¬ 
nificance of 2 : 4b ? What picture does he give of God ? 
Copy out several verses which are frequently quoted 
from this prophecy. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 




71-72 

The Book of Deuteronomy. Introduction. Read 
s. v. “Josiah” in H. B. D. Josiah came to the throne 
in 641. In the 18th year of his reign he instituted rad¬ 
ical and far reaching reforms, of two kinds: (a) the 
removal of all traces of foreign cults and gods, and 
of heathen methods of worshiping the Lord, and (b) 
the destruction of all places of worship of the Lord, 
except the Temple in Jerusalem. His reforms em¬ 
braced not only his own kingdom of Judah but the 
Assyrian colony of Israel as well. The details of his 
sweeping reform can only be found in the prescriptions 
of the book of Deuteronomy. Chapters 5-11 give the 
general principles, 12-17 the laws, and 18 the sanction. 
The earlier chapters and the appendix (29 ff.) are later 
additions to the original book. Trace carefully the pro¬ 
cedure of Josiah as indicated in II. Kings 22-23, an d 
the passages given in Deuteronomy authorising these 
reform measures. 

Give a brief account of the discovery in the Temple 
of the Law during the reign of Josiah. Is there any 
suggestion that there was a book of “the Law” known 
before this occasion? As there is no evidence for the 
existence, previous to Josiah’s reign, of the knowledge 
of such a written code, is it not reasonable to suppose 
that this portion of the law first came into common 
knowledge at this time? What other view might be 
held as to its origin ? 


32 


THE IDEAS OF 


73-75 

Pre-Denteronomic Abuses in the Religion in Israel. 
Read II. Kings 22-23, and v. “Book of Deuteron- 
omy” in H. B. D. s. v. “Manasseh,” and s. v. “Molech, 
Molech” in H. B. D. The seventh century saw the cul¬ 
mination of Assyrian power. Due to this fact there 
came about the introduction of new methods of wor¬ 
ship: the astral cults (Queen of Heaven, the stars, etc.) 
and the sacrifice of children at “Topheth.” This state 
of things continued from the times of Manasseh, son of 
Hezekiah, and his successor. M/s reign was one of 
great peace and prosperity, due probably to the conces¬ 
sions and compromises he effected in promoting the 
worship of Assyrian minor deities. 

Give a brief summary of the evidence of the intro¬ 
duction of the heathen worship in this period. What 
does “Gehenna” mean? What was “Topheth”? Ex¬ 
plain “Molech”. 


76-78 

The Contents of the Book of Deuteronomy. Read 
the book of Deuteronomy in the following order: 5-11; 
12-16; 28; 4; 29-30. 

General characteristics of Deuteronomy: (a) the 
self-conscious and exclusive monethcism of the book 
(4; 28; 29). Notice the solution suggested in these 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


33 


sources for the problem presented by the particular 
choice of the Jews as a peculiar people to serve the one 
God, and the existence and toleration of heathenism, 
(b) The humanity of Deuteronomy; compare Hosea; 
Deut. 5 : 12-15, and Exodus 20: 8-11. Note the signifi¬ 
cant difference in the sanction and reason given for 
the observance of the Sabbath. Mark references to 
passages which express a Utopian idealism as to the 
relation of man to man. (c) The large traditional ele¬ 
ment: not only does the book contain passages which 
directly sanctioned the reform measures of Josiah (such 
as, e.g., 12), but there are large numbers of ancient 
laws, older than the seventh century, incorporated into 
the book, as well as some material added much later. 
It is impossible to discover when this book took its 
present form, or how early are the parts which mani¬ 
festly belong to the period preceding the seventh cen¬ 
tury. 

Why did God choose Israel alone to know Him, and 
allow other peoples to persist in heathenism? What 
are the distinctive features of the monotheism of the 
book of Deuteronomy? What difference is there be¬ 
tween the IV Commandment given in Exodus and in 
Deuteronomy as to the reason for the observance of the 
Sabbath day? What passages suggest (do not quote 
the text, but merely give references) a rather impos¬ 
sible and certainly unfulfilled idealism? What great 
underlying conception in the book of Deuteronomy links 
the book to Hosea? 


34 


THE IDEAS OF 


79-80 

The Prophecy of Jeremiah. Read chapter 1-20; s. v. 
“Jeremiah,” § 3, The Book , in H. B. D. With the 
reading in the text of Jer., compare 36: 32. The two 
prophets who lived through the Babylonian catastrophe 
were Ezekiel and Jeremiah (597-586). Jer. began to 
prophecy before the Egyptian crisis. The problem of 
the book of Jer. is very complicated, partly because of 
the original redaction by Baruch, and partly as a re¬ 
sult of subsequent rearrangements of the text. This 
is apparent from a comparison of the LXX text with 
the Hebrew as we have it now (cf. art. in H. B. D). 
Of the seven parts of the book, the first section 
dates only a short time before the first catastrophe, 
604 b. c. 

Compare this prophet with those we have been study¬ 
ing. Chapters 1-6 represent an adaptation of a much 
earlier prophecy (in regard to the Scythian invasion) 
to the Babylonian invasion. Jeremiah’s condemnation 
of the vices of his day is as unsparing as that of his 
predecessors, but he does look forward to a restoration: 
judgment is not to mean destruction. 

As a literary document, what conspicuous difference 
do you notice in Jeremiah’s prophecy as compared with 
the other prophecies we have studied, in regard to the 
amount of autobiographical material? What distinc¬ 
tion is there as to the matter of punishment? When 
was the prophecy put together in its present form (cf. 
36:32)? What indications do these verses (36:32 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


35 

and context) give as to the method of composition of a 
prophecy ? 

81-82 

The Content of Jeremiah's Prophecy. Read chapters 
2I_ 33 i refer to art. in H. B. D., for synopsis of the 
book. Jer.’s character as the “weeping prophet” is a 
misapplication and misrepresentation. It is undoubt¬ 
edly due to the influence of Lamentations. Notice the 
date suggested for sections II-IV,—the so-called “Lit¬ 
tle Book of Consolation”. Notice particularly chapter 
31; two thoughts are outstanding: (a ) the transforma¬ 
tion of a people , which has been rebellious and recal¬ 
citrant, can be effected only by a change which God 
alone can work; (b) religion must be a mutter of the 
relation of the individual to God (vs. 29-30). 

Compare the teaching about the new convenant 
(vs. 31 fL), with the words in the N. T.: St. Matt. 
26:28; St. Mark 14:2-4; St. Luke 22:20. 

What is meant by the doctrine of grace in Christian¬ 
ity? What affiliation has it with Jer. 31? Since the 
Hebrew idiom for “making a covenant” is “cuttincf’ a 
covenant (in other words, every covenant involves sacri¬ 
fice and blood shedding), what relationship has the 
teaching about the “new covenant” (Jer. 31:31 ff.) 
with the account of the Institution of the Eucharist in 
the New Testament? What new outstanding contribu¬ 
tion does Jer. make to the importance of the individual 
in religion ? Contrast in this respect his prophecy with 
the preceding prophets. 


3^ 


THE IDEAS OF 


83-84 

The Religion of Jeremiah. Read s. v. “Jeremiah/’ 
§ 1 The Times; § 2, The Man; in H. B. D.; chapters 
34 to end, in the Bible. Notice how the prophet’s keen 
perception of his own isolation has driven him to the 
consciousness of God’s revelation to him personally; 
how Jer. has been brought to realise, sharply and vi¬ 
vidly, the aspect of religion as a communion of the 
individual with God, and how this experience renders 
the individual independent of external circumstances, 
no matter how disrupting or demoralising they may be. 
Note, further, that Jer. applies the prophets’ teaching 
about “repentance” ( repentance in Hebrew —“re¬ 
turn”) to the individual. The repentance of the indi¬ 
vidual has to be the means of the return of the people 
as a whole to God. In this contribution Jer. marks a 
definite step forward in the development of O. T. 
thought. 

Write a brief summary of the life, character, and 
work of Jer. 


85-87 

The Earlier Portion of the Prophecy of Ezekiel. 
Read v. “Ezekiel” in H. B. D., and chapters 1-24 
of the prophecy. Ezekiel prophesied in Babylonia, 
where he had been carried with the first detachment of 
the exiles, in 597. His prophecy was written in exile 
and is substantially in the form in which it left his 
hands. Of all the prophecies, his is the most ade- 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


37 


quately and completely dated (cf. art. in H. B. D., II, 
§ i). The object of these chapters is to convince an in¬ 
credulous people that God “meant business” in fore¬ 
telling the Exile. The people cannot seem to realise 
even yet the significance of the earlier prophetic mes¬ 
sages. 

There is a great difference in tone and in point of 
view manifest in Ezekiel. One such divergence is the 
indictment not only of the sins of rebelliousness, op¬ 
pression, greed, and the like, but as well, God’s ex¬ 
pressed abhorrence of Israel’s prostitution of religion 
in the guise of idolatry. Ezek. is extremely bitter 
against this particular type of sin, as was, to a certain 
degree, Jer. (cf. 7:32, etc.). No less does he dwell 
on the sinister significance of dangerous entangling al¬ 
liances politically, as well as of concessional compro¬ 
mises religiously. Two doctrines of Ezek. are conspic¬ 
uously interesting: (a) his teaching as to individual re¬ 
sponsibility (18; cf., Jer., 31 ff.) ; (b) his doctrine of 
sin as a moral and spiritual defilement making the sin¬ 
ner unclean religiously, and necessitating the cleansing 
power of Him from whom alone can holiness proceed, 
since He alone is holy. 

What different emphasis does Ezek. (chapter 18) 
give to the doctrine of individual responsibility annun¬ 
ciated by Jer.? What difference is there in his con¬ 
ception of sin? in his notion of “grace”? What differ¬ 
ence is there between “individual responsibility” and 
“proportional retribution” ? 


38 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


88-91 

The Later Portion of Ezekiel. Read chapters 25 to 
the end; art. in H. B. D. The last part of Ezek., as 
is obvious, dates from after the exile of 586. Its aim 
is to console, comfort, and hearten the Jews in Baby¬ 
lonia. Ezek.’s logical, rather than pragmatic, doctrine 
of individual retribution has not operated as he might 
have expected; all Jews, righteous and unrighteous 
alike, had been taken off to Babylonia. In other words, 
his rationalisation of the relation of the divine justice 
to the condition of the individual left much to be 
desired. (In this part of his teaching he laid the foun¬ 
dations for the problem considered in the book of Job.) 

Ezek.’s hope for Israel now lies in the future; he 
looks forward to a new restoration in which the future 
government would be theocratic and not secular. 

What implications are involved in this explicit dif¬ 
ference in point of view? What would you say of 
Ezek.’s attitude towards the state? How would you 
describe, in modern terms, the method by which he 
received his revelations? Compare and contrast his 
theology with that of Jer. 


92 

Review Studies 63-68. 

93 

Review Studies 69-88. 

94 

Review Studies 31-88, inclusive. 


SECTION IV 

STUDIES 95-133 

95-96 

The Book of Judges. Read s. v. “Judges (book 
of)” in H. B. D. The Book of Judges, in its present 
form, belongs in time to the period of the Book of 
Deut. Certain of the chapters are very old indeed, 
as, for example, 17-21. Chapters 17-18 have to do 
with the traditional origin of the sanctuary at Dan and 
probably incorporate two different traditions. Chap¬ 
ters 19-21 contain very early material in the form of a 
narrative which serves to point the moral of 21:25. 
The book as a whole (for Judges proper is comprised 
in 2:6-16:31) shows indubitable signs of Deuter- 
onomic redaction. 

What impression is suggested as to the way in which 
ancient sources were handled by later tradition ? What 
conception did such editors have of history? What 
was their animating purpose in the manipulation and 
rearrangement of traditional material? Under what 
classification,—“historical,” or “prophetical,” literature, 
—does this book more properly belong? 

39 


40 


THE IDEAS OF 


97-98 

The Ideas of the Book of Judges. Read the text of 
the Book of Judges in the following order: 17-18; 
19-21; 1: 1-2: 5; 2: 6-16, and construe your read¬ 
ing and estimate in the light of the art. in H. B. D. 

What picture is given of the invasion of Canaan by 
the Israelites? What account of the origin of the 
sanctuary at Dan is narrated in 17-18? Give a brief 
story of the condition of religion in early Israel, as in¬ 
dicated by the older chapters of Judges. What char¬ 
acteristics of God does the song of Deborah (chapter 
5) emphasise? Compare and contrast the type of 
religion preserved in the early narratives with that of 
the seventh century. 


99-101 

The Books of Samuel. Read in I. Samuel: (a) 9: 
1-10; 16:27 s ; 11: 1-15; 13-14 and compare with this 
section (b) 8; 10; i7-27 b ; 12. Compare I. Sam. 16: 
17 ff., and 17:55 ff.; I. Sam. 2:27-36, and 3: 11 ff. 
If the above passages be read carefully and critically 
several interesting conclusions may be discovered. 
There are two accounts of Saul’s crowning; the older 
one (cf. (a) above) shows a favorable and more or 
less pro-royal attitude toward the facts,—it is the 
earlier document, and gives the monarchic point of 
view; the second account of Saul’s crowning (cf. (b) 
above) presents a different point of view,—God is un¬ 
favorable to the proposed king and gives only a grudg- 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


4i 


ing consent; this document is later and embodies the 
theocratic point of view. 

In the other passages given for comparison above 
there are two accounts of David’s introduction to Saul, 
two announcements of the fete at Eli’s house, the 
double rejection of Saul, and so forth. 

What may we infer as to the literary texture of I. 
Sam.? What does this suggest as to the function and 
objective of the editor? 


102 

Samuel and Saul. Read I. Sam., 1-15. Keeping in 
mind the two different points of view in these chap¬ 
ters, construct a brief life of the first King of Israel, 
and tell of his relation to the seer, Samuel. 

103 

The Rise of David. Read: I. Sam. 16-11. Sam. 5: 
3, and v. “David” in H. B. D., §§ 1-2. 

On the basis of your reading in the text and the art., 
prepare a biographical sketch of the early career of 
David. In what does the author feel that his great¬ 
ness consists? How would you estimate his career? 
What subtly different points of view are apparent in 
the narratives? 


104 

David as King. Read II. Sam. 5:4-24. and v. 
“David” in H. B. D. § 3; complete your character 
sketch of the great King. 


42 


THE IDEAS OF 


How does the author of Samuel deal with the life of 
David? What view does he present of the work of 
David as statesman? 


105 

The Importance of the Books of Samuel. Read 
s. v. “Samuel, Books of,” in H. B. D., and refer back to 
the text wherever necessary. 

On the basis of §§ 5 and 6, write a brief essay on the 
significance of I. and II. Samuel for the history of 
the religion of Israel. What interpretation of history 
do these books give us? 

106-107 

The Books of Kings. Read s. v. “Kings, Books of,” 
in H. B. D. The animating purpose of these books 
was to point a moral; cf. I. Kings 22:41-43, 45, 50. 
The author incorporates ancient material throughout, 
but he always interprets it in the light of his own 
position. He is strongly under the influence of the 
theological position of Exilic Judaism: note how the 
career of a king is judged by the standard of his at¬ 
titude towards the “high places”. The religious mo¬ 
tive is consistently apparent and completely dominant. 
In this connection read I. Kings 8. 

Does the author of Kings show any interest in the 
presentation, without comment, of objective historical 
data? What book that we have recently studied im¬ 
pregnates the dedicatory prayer of Solomon? What 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


43 

is the significance of the phrase “until this day” (I. 
Kings 8:8; 9:21; 12: 19; II. Kings 2:22; etc.) ? 

108-109 

The Religious Value of the Books of Kings. Read 
rapidly 1 . and II. Kings, with a view towards discov¬ 
ering the religious point of view and dominant religious 
conceptions of the author. 

Write briefly, giving concrete references, on the re¬ 
sult of your findings under the following topics: (a) 
the redactor’s idea of God; (b) his conception of sin; 
(c) the dominant influences upon his religious out¬ 
look; and (d) the basis of his approbation or con¬ 
demnation of the historical figures or occurrence. 

IIO-III 

The Prophecy of Ohadiah. Read the text of the 
prophecy and s. v. “Obadiah, Book of,” in H. B. D. 
This is the shortest book in the O. T., and its critical 
problems are perhaps the most intricate. Refer back 
to your reading s. v. “Jeremiah” in H. B. D. for the 
date and form of Jer. 46-49; with Jer. 49: 14-16, cf. 
Ob. 1-8. The portion of Ob. here referred to is prob¬ 
ably earlier that the parallel section in Jer. 

The two dominant thoughts of the prophecy of Oba¬ 
diah are: (a) the prophetic interpretation of the de¬ 
struction of Edom, and (b) the presaging of the uni¬ 
versal judgment. 

What personal and stylistic peculiarity distinguishes 


44 


THE IDEAS OF 


this prophecy? What basis have we for the date of 
the prophecy? What date seems most probable? 
What is the theme of the prophecy? 

112-114 

Dentero-Isaiali or “The Great Unnamed". Read 
Isaiah 40-55; v. “Isaiah, Book of,” in H. B. D. (the 
sections bearing on these chapters). 

The One Universal God. We are now to study the 
last sections of a very great book. Chapters 40-55 are 
considered to have been written by a different author, 
not only than chapters 1-39, but also than 55-66. 
Chapters 36-39 come from II. Kings (cf. art. in H. 
B. D. ). Judah has been punished, her sin has been 
expiated, and it is now time for the restoration. The 
style of this section differs so markedly from that of 
the preceding chapters that the fact was long since 
discovered and appreciated. 

Note in this section that there is a (a) fully devel¬ 
oped monotheism, conscious of all its implications. 
(b) This self-conscious monotheism is both dogmatic 
and polemic. God is the Creator of all that exists,— 
this is not so much an assertion as an article of faith. 
He is the Eternal One, and before, after, and beside 
Him there is no god (43 :10 ff.; 44: 6, 8; 45 : 5, 14, 18; 
46:9, etc.). The affirmation of this monotheism 
brings out the corollary: God is, and there is none 
other beside Him. 

The author’s interest in the world is in the will of 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


45 


God made manifest in its history: the redemption of 
Israel at the Red Sea, the deliverance, punishment for 
sin, and so forth. Deliverance is now already on the 
horizon (44; 45:13; 45:17; 46:11). God’s plan 
fulfills His prophets’ predictions: 42 : 9; 43: 9-13 ; 45 : 
21; 46: 9-11. The writer reviles the “hand made gods” 
of the heathen: 40: 18-20; 44: 19-20; 46: 1 ff. 

What difference in emphasis is there between such 
a verse as Amos 4:13 and similar passages in Deut.- 
Isaiah? What is meant by “exclusive” or “self-con¬ 
scious” monotheism? What attitude has God to 
idolatry (compare Deut.) ? 

115-116 

Theistic Monotheism and its Implications in Deut- 
ero-Isaiah. Read s. v. “Servant of the Lord,” in H. 
B. D. We have noticed that the earlier prophets con¬ 
ceived history as a moral order. We have also seen 
that later on these ideas underwent a gradual change, 
so that history was conceived as a teleological order. 

In these chapters of Isaiah, the fully-developed, self- 
conscious monotheism of the prophet involves several 
problems. History, as the record of the course of 
purposive development, is converging to a goal,—the 
accomplishment of the divine aim for which Israel was 
elected, for which the law was given, the prophets 
raised up, and the people disciplined. This purpose is 
to be secured in the restoration of Israel, its guilt now 
having been fully expiated. There is to be another 


46 


THE IDEAS OF 


journey through the wilderness (41: 17 ff.; 42: 10 ff.; 
49: 9 ff.), but the desert is to blossom like a garden. 
Exiled Israel is to be gathered together (43: 5 ff.; 49: 
22-23). 

The land will be fruitful, yet the physical restor¬ 
ation is only symbolic and typical of a moral and spir¬ 
itual regeneration (54: 11-16). There is to be a new 
covenant (54:9-10). In this rehabilitated state, 
Ezek. (q. v.), would have no king but only a “pres¬ 
ident” ; in Isaiah it seems that the Lord Himself is to 
be the sole and only ruler (41: 21544: 6). The divine 
kingship is to be the sole royalty, yet it must not be 
thought that this conception is necessarily Messianic. 

What is meant by conceiving history as a “teleolog¬ 
ical” order? What is the goal of history according to 
these passages in Deutero-Isaiah ? What is the as¬ 
sociation between nature and man in the coming restor¬ 
ation of Israel? What contrast does the ideal of the 
rehabilitated state in Deutero-Isaiah present to that of 
Ezek.? 


117-118 

Particularism and Universadism. So long as Israel’s 
conception of its own God was national (no matter 
how keenly His votaries were sensible of His supe¬ 
riority over other gods), there could be no question as 
to His sole relation to' His own people Israel and 
Judah. Particularism is a legitimate and inevitable 
conception when the deity be conceived as national. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


47 


But when Israel’s God was conceived to be the only 
God, beside whom there is none else (43: 11; 44: 6-8; 
45 : 5, 6, 21; 47 : 8, 10, etc.), the questions arose: “If 
so—if He be the Judge, Ruler, and Creator of all — 
how can He have chosen one nation, revealed Himself 
to it, shaped it for his purpose, guided history with it 
in view, punished it to secure its co-operation in His 
aim? How can God have shown such partiality?” 
In other words, how is it possible for monotheism to 
be nationalistic? 

The first problem, then, resolved itself into a the¬ 
odicy: Israel’s whole past religious history was con¬ 
stituted on a basis of a particularistic choice of Israel 
by God; how is this justifiable? (Deut. has a dif¬ 
ferent solution of this difficulty from Isaiah: God 
let other nations worship created things and reserved 
Israel’s allegiance for Himself.) The “Servant” pas¬ 
sages in Isaiah attempt to answer this question. Just 
as Jer. understood that his vocation was to serve the 
purpose of a wider dissemination of God’s will and 
that he was not illuminated for himself alone, so 
Israel had been trained in order to bring to the na¬ 
tions the knowledge of the one God (cf. 42:1 fif.; 
49:1-6). In this way is solved the first problem, and 
the particularism of Israel is reconciled with self- 
conscious monotheism. 

What great problem of theodicy arises in the attempt 
to adjust the election of Israel with the realisation of 
the universality of the one God? How is this prob¬ 
lem handled in Deut.? in Deutero-Isaiah? 


48 


THE IDEAS OF 


i19-120 

Israel's Mission and Martyrdom. A second prob¬ 
lem, also one of theodicy, presents itself upon the solu¬ 
tion of the first: If Israel were called and elected, in 
God’s plan for the world, to fulfill the function of 
manifesting His will to all mankind, why were the Jews 
singled out for such an extreme example of God’s 
severity (remember that a national god would natu¬ 
rally be partial to His own folk, that a universal God 
cannot be partial to any one people, and that the Jews 
seemed to have been set apart for unprecedentedly se¬ 
vere chastisement at the hands of God) ? Undoubtedly 
this was one of the pressing problems of religious faith 
after the Exile, which would come to the fore and 
press for solution the more intensely as the thesis for 
the solution of the problem of the election of Israel were 
accepted. The prophet was here concerned with a dan¬ 
ger which threatened the demoralisation of religion 
among the Jews. 

Reread 52-55. The speakers in 53: 1-7 are the 
heathen nations and their kings. The speaker in 52: 
13-15 is God. 52: 15 should read: “Thus many na¬ 
tions shall be thrown into commotion over Him; kings 
shall put their hands over their mouths because of 
Him, for they shall come to see that which had not 
been narrated to them, and that which they did not 
hear they shall now come to understand” (namely the 
exaltation of the formerly humiliated “servant”). 
The section 53: 10-12 closes with this exaltation. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


49 


The humiliation of the Servant has a propitiatory and 
atoning effect for all the nations. The underlying idea 
is that of the solidarity of the race; in the family of 
nations, Israel had suffered for humanity. This vica¬ 
rious suffering avails for the conversion of the Gen¬ 
tiles to belief in the one God. 

Note: This double premise—the solidarity of the 
human race and the pragmatic fact of the suffering of 
the innocent for the guilty—is perhaps even more in¬ 
teresting than the solution of the problem which it 
promotes. Observe that these premises are strictly 
practical; that the whole development of monothesim 
among the Jews, together with all the implications in¬ 
volved, was never advanced along the lines of philo¬ 
sophical speculation, but by means of spiritual as¬ 
piration wrestling with facts of human experience; the 
innocent do suffer for the guilty, and no particular dif¬ 
ficulty was felt in ancient times in acknowledging this 
fact. 

What practical conditions led to the emergence of the 
problem of Israel’s suffering? In what sense are 
the later “Servant” passages consolatory? How does 
the writer deal with the problem of Israel’s suffering, 
despite loyalty to God’s will, in the face of the victory 
and success of worldly wickedness? In what sense 
was the suffering of Israel vicarious? 

122-123 

The Historical Background of this Period. Read 
in H. B. D., s. v. “Assyria and Babylonia”; “Persia, 


50 


THE IDEAS OF 


Persians” (look up all references there given) ; “Medes, 
Medea”. Cyrus conquered Medea, and established 
himself on the throne of a limited Eastern Empire. 
Three other contemporaneous empires,—(a) Baby¬ 
lonia—Assyria; (b) Lydia (capital, Sardis), in West¬ 
ern Asia Minor, a formidable adversary; (c) Egypt— 
decidedly unfavorable to the new empire,—all united to 
form a coalition against it. These three governments, 
vastly superior in resources, could have conquered 
Cyrus had they been able to remain united. The 
Lydian Empire fell in 546, and Cyrus mastered Asia 
Minor to the Ionian seaboard. He then turned against 
Babylonia from the north. The archaeologist-king, 
Nabunaid, lost his kingdom in a battle in which his 
forces were led by the Crown Prince, Belshazzar. 
Babylon was taken by the advance guard without a 
struggle. Cyrus entered in the fall of 538. He an¬ 
nexed Babylonia, Scythia, and Palestine, and was now 
master of the Medeo-Persian Empire, the Lydian Em¬ 
pire, and Babylonia, from the mountains of the Tigris 
to the Mediterranean, and from the Cilician gates to 
Egypt. 

The Jewish colonists in Babylonia had news of con¬ 
temporary affairs: the fall of Medea, the campaign in 
Asia Minor, etc. To the decade 548-538 belong the 
prophecies of the destruction and fall of the Babylonian 
Empire. Compare, e. g., Isaiah 13-14:27 (which chap¬ 
ters are dislocated in this connection) ; Jeremiah 50: 
2-51: 58; and Isaiah 40 ff. 

Cyrus, in accordance with his usual policy, allowed 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


5i 


the Jews to return. Two observations on the Exile 
seem to be justified by the facts: (a) a large part of 
the Jews had not been taken to Babylonia at all, for 
the ‘‘Exile” involved principally the aristocracy, and 
(b) the return to Palestine was not a large movement 
en masse, so much as the return of individuals and 
groups. Great numbers of Jews were satisfied to re¬ 
main in Babylonia. In 525, Cambyses, son of Cyrus, 
annexed Egypt. After his death (on the way home 
to deal with a pretender to the throne), Darius Hy- 
taspes was chosen king. His first act was to put down 
rebellions all over his enormous empire (we have in¬ 
scriptions written by him in Old Persian, Babylonian, 
and Susan, the language of Elam). It was at this time 
(520 b. c.), that the prophecies of Haggai and Zecha- 
riah were written. 

Make a resume of the historical situation, and add 
to it a table of dates, giving the parallel events in 
secular and religious history. 

124-125 

The Prophecy of Haggai. Read s.v. “Haggai” in 
H. B. D., and the prophecy itself. The book has as its 
chief purpose the exhortation of the people to rebuild 
the Temple in Jerusalem. Zerubbabel was enthroned 
and the Temple finished in 516. Note that by the time 
of this prophecy idolatry, as a potent factor of religious 
danger to the Israelites, had disappeared. Compare 
the increasing interest manifested here in the liturgical 


52 


THE IDEAS OF 


and objective side of worship. The circumstances of 
the prophecy do not seem to demand the same kind of 
excoriation of moral and social sins which is found in 
Zechariah and Malachi. 

What is the positive element in Haggai’s prophecy? 
What explanation of the prevailing want and need 
does he give (chapter i) ? How does he differ from 
pre-Exilic prophets ? In what respects does he re¬ 
semble Zech.? 

126-127 

The Prophecy of Zechariah. Read “Zechariah, Book 
of,” in H. B. D., and chapters 1-8 of the prophecy it¬ 
self. Compare the correlations to the book of Haggai. 
Notice the indebtedness of Zech. to Ezek.—the utiliza¬ 
tion of Ezek.’s “vehicle” of prophecy (1:7; 6:15). 
The last two chapters of the original book (7-8) con¬ 
stitute the climax of the prophecy. The last verse 
(8:23) betrays the affiliation of the prophet’s think¬ 
ing, individual and independent though it is, to Deutero- 
Isaiah. 

What future does Zech. see for Israel? Is his out¬ 
look pessimistic or optimistic? In what respects is he 
indebted to Ezekiel? What relation has the rebuild¬ 
ing of the Temple to the great fulfillment of Israel’s 
mission? How is Zech. indebted to Deutero-Isaiah? 

128-129 

The Book of Lamentations. Read the text of Lam¬ 
entations and the article “Lamentations, Book of,” in 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


53 


H. B. D. The book contains five complete hymns. 
Note what is said as to the acrostic form of the verses 
in H. B. D. § 4. Note particularly the moral (3:40). 

Why is it difficult to 1 attribute the authorship to the 
prophet Jeremiah? Yet, what vast similarity is there 
in ideas between Lam. and Jer. ? What date seems 
most probable? What modern cantata is based upon 
it? With what day in the Jewish “Church year” is the 
reading of Lam. associated? 

130-131 

The Book of Ruth. Read the text of the Book of 
Ruth and s. v. “Ruth” in H. B. D. Compare the thesis 
of the Book of Ruth with that of the Book of Jonah. 
The great note-worthy fact about it is that a non- 
Jewess is thus included among the ancestry of David. 
Look up the verses which suggest the date of the book. 

When would the problem of the inclusion of the 
Gentiles in the ancestry of David become significant 
enough to deserve special treatment? What light does 
this throw upon the approximate date of the book? 
How does it articulate itself into the context of the 
stream of O. T. thought? 


132 

Review Studies 92-107. 


133 

Review Studies 108-124. 


SECTION V 


STUDIES 134-170 

The Hexateuch 

134-136 

Introduction —Read s.v. “Law (in O. T.)” and 
“Hexateuch” in H. B. D. We have seen how the 
Book of Deuteronomy came to light during the re¬ 
forms of Josiah in the year 621, and, while we are un¬ 
able to say with precision how much earlier Deuter¬ 
onomy was, we are satisfied that it contains a con¬ 
siderable amount of very ancient material. It would 
be beside the point in this course to undertake a de¬ 
tailed analysis of the strands which, woven together, 
constitute the first six books of the Old Testament in 
their present form, but it is essential to grasp the facts 
in their general bearings. 

On the basis of your reading in the above articles, 
make a preliminary division of the first books of the 
Old Testament into their component structural parts, 
and indicate the results in an outline. 

137-139 

Exodus —Read the Book of Exodus on the basis of 
the art. s. v. “Exodus” in H. B. D. The Law was 
54 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


55 


originally an oral tradition, and must have been of a 
very great age. The ancient consuetudinary law, which 
had already become firmly entrenched by the time of 
Solomon, undoubtedly underwent frequent revisions 
and re-editions in later times. Ex. 20:22; 23: 33 ob¬ 
viously represents a very real body of early legislation 
(cf. “Law (in O. T.)” § 5, in H. B. D.). Scanty 
remnants of a code are here preserved. Compare the 
code of Hammurabi in art. s. v. “Assyria and Baby¬ 
lonia” II (b). 

Notice that the so-called “Book of the Covenant” 
deals with the problems of a simple agricultural com¬ 
munity, and that, while it is old, it still represents a 
much later stage of social, economical, and religious de¬ 
velopment than Ex. 34 (which read, and compare 
with Ex. 20). 

Give a summary of your study of the legislation of 
the Book of Exodus. 


140-142 

Leviticus —Read the book of Leviticus in the light of 
the art. s. v. “Leviticus,” in H. B. D. Leviticus is 
primarily concerned with the “priestly code,” and has 
to do with a great number of problems, ethical, social, 
religious, and ceremonial, in the history of the Jewish 
religion. It also deals with sacrifices, the laws of 
clean and unclean, and “ritual law” in general and par¬ 
ticular. 

Give an outline and summary of the chief contents of 
Leviticus, in the light of your study and reading. 


THE IDEAS OF 


56 


143-145 

The “Book of Institutions ”—Sometime in the early 
Persian period, various traditions (many of them of 
vast antiquity) were reduced to writing with a view to 
giving a brief history of the religious institutions of 
Israel. This work began with the Creation, and in 
this connection, gave the origin of the Sabbath. The 
Flood gave the sanction for the use of animal food, 
and, in this connection, the law prohibiting the use of 
blood. Circumcision was ascribed to Abraham, and 
the law of festivals attributed to Mosaic origin. The 
gaps between these significant events were filled in by 
genealogies. When this “Book of Institutions’’ was 
completed, it furnished a frame-work into which the 
ceremonial and religious law could be inserted, then 
older narratives (“J” and “E”) were also introduced 
into the same schematic outline. The book closed with 
Leviticus and then was taken up again in Joshua. 

Review the articles in H. B. D., and, on the basis 
of your reading in the Pentateuch, give a simple sum¬ 
mary as to the probable history of these books in their 
present form. 


146-147 

Genesis —Read the text of the book in the light of 
the article “Genesis” in H. B. D. Make careful notes 
on your reading, and prepare a succinct analysis of the 
contents of Genesis on the basis of its component 
strands and points of view. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


57 


148-149 

The Earlier Chapters of Genesis. Read chapters 1- 
,3 of Genesis. These chapters are not a text book of 
geology, or of biology, or of anthropology. In the 
form in which they were originally handed down (to be 
put in writing many centuries later) they had but one 
single purpose, expressed in the words: “In the be¬ 
ginning, God.” These chapters are not interested in 
history as such, or in archaeology, but are guided by 
the great purpose of interpreting the beginnings of 
life with a view toward ascribing the origin of all 
things to God. Their inspiration attaches to the pur¬ 
pose for which they were written, and to the means of 
attaining this purpose, so far as they are judged by those 
for whom they were addressed. The Semitic mind, 
whether primitive or later, does not find abstractions 
congenial: Our Lord Himself did not teach in syllo¬ 
gisms, or in abstract statements, but by parable, story, 
and by the concrete. 

What great lessons do these chapters mean to con¬ 
vey? (a) There is one God, and He is unique and 
Sole; (b) the only God there is, is the one and only 
Creator of all that exists; (c) all that He created is 
good (in other words, there is no room either for poly¬ 
theism or for a fundamentally dualistic view of the 
Universe) ; (d) man is both material and spiritual—he 
is of the earth, after his body, and he is of God, after 
his soul; yet man is not two but one single entity,—a 
body-soul; (e) man is the climax and acme of crea- 


58 


THE IDEAS OF 


tion, and created things are all to serve his ends; (f) 
man was created with free-will, which meant that he 
had the power within him to abuse his freedom and 
disobey God; (g) the first pair of human beings ac¬ 
tually did violate the moral order which they knew 
they should obey, and disaster followed. 

It would be easy still further to present the implica¬ 
tions involved in these chapters of Genesis, but this 
sketch is perhaps sufficient to indicate their real signifi¬ 
cance. 

Is the scientific theory of evolution necessarily in¬ 
consistent with the ascription of the origin of all things 
to God as Creator? Are these chapters to be taken 
as an exhaustive treatise of the method of God’s cre¬ 
ation, or are they to be estimated in the light of their 
intrinsic significance and original purpose? Do you 
think it is dishonest to find in the words of Holy 
Scripture an inner purpose enshrined within the hu¬ 
man integument, of which the former may be enduring 
and permanent, and the latter temporary and secon¬ 
dary? After considering the questions involved in 
these chapters of Genesis in the light of modern con¬ 
troversy, what are your reactions ? 

ISO-15^ 

Numbers —Read Numbers and the art. s. v. “Num¬ 
bers” in H. B. D. Make careful notes on your read¬ 
ing and outline the contents of the book with a view to 
the various strands of source material. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


59 


153 

The So-called “Priests’ Code ”—There are two the¬ 
ories in regard to the “Priests' Code.” It has been 
commonly supposed in modern times that Exodus- 
Leviticus-Numbers represent what was salvaged, after 
the Exile, from the wreck of the old civilian and re¬ 
ligious laws of Israel. This material was added to and 
somewhat altered to make it fit the conditions of the 
post-exilic Jerusalem community. 

There is, however, another theory that these books, 
primarily “priestly” in scope, were due entirely to 
Ezra. This second theory postulated that the Law was, 
for the most part, compiled in Babylonia, in order to 
sanction the correcting of abuses in view of the deca¬ 
dence of the Jerusalem community. According to the 
common chronology, Ezra went up to Jerusalem in 
458, but the ratification of the Law did not take place 
until 444 (the year after Nehemiah’s coming). The 
suggestion is made (in line with this theory) that 
Ezra spent the years in between in editing the Penta¬ 
teuch, being strongly influenced thereby by the proph¬ 
ecy of Ezekiel. The so-called “Priests' Code” is then 
attributed to Ezra. In order adequately to compare 
these theses it is necessary to investigate the combined 
books, Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah. 

154-155 

Chronicles —Read s. v. “Chronicles I. and II.” in H. 
B. D., and compare with the information therein given 


6o 


THE IDEAS OF 


the text of the two books. Compare also with Kings I. 
and II. Note particularly the characteristics of Chron¬ 
icles, and make a brief summary of your findings. 

156-157 

The Book of Ezra —Read s.v. “Ezra” and “Ezra, 
Book of,” in H. B. D., and the text of the book. Ab¬ 
stract the data which bear on the resemblance to and 
affiliation with Chronicles. 

158-159 

The Book of Nehemiah —Read s. v. “Nehemiah,” 
and “Nehemiah, Book of,” in H. B. D., and the text 
of the book. Give succinctly, on the basis of your 
reading, an account of the events of the years, 458-444. 

160-161 

The Book of Joshua —Read the text of Joshua in 
the light of the article s. v. “Joshua” in H. B. D. Make 
notes on your study and prepare an outline of the 
contents and source material of Joshua. 

162-163 

The So-Called et Priests* Code” —(concluded). Two 
difficulties present themselves when we have investi¬ 
gated the data furnished by Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah. 
(a) If we leave aside the old Laws and narratives (“J” 
and “E” and Deuteronomy) and restrict our attention 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


61 


to the priestly law, we discover that it has no resem¬ 
blance to a “code” or ordered body of legislation. No 
intention of instituting radical reforms in the worship 
at Jerusalem seemsj to be manifested, (b) For the 
narrative of the ratification of the law, we have but the 
word of the author of Chronicles, who wrote in the 
year 300. We can check up his use of source ma¬ 
terial (for example, cf. I, II Kings) and feel no great 
confidence in his trustworthiness as to the objective 
presentation of historical findings. 

Because of the weight of these arguments, it is 
strongly felt that the so-called “Priestly Code” is not a 
code at all, but ancient law, as preserved by the people 
in Palestine and dating back before the Exile, now 
once more incorporated, in the text of the present 
Pentateuch sometime after the Exile. The date when 
Deuteronomy was added to the body of Pentateuch ma¬ 
terial is unknown. Some rearrangement must have 
taken place (the death of Moses was removed from its 
original connection in Numbers 27 to Deuteronomy 
34). Thus we have the Pentateuch in its present form. 
Many of the articles in H. B. D. suggest that Ezra was 
the author of the so-called “Priestly Code.” Re-read 
and re-examine them carefully. 

Does the derivation of the Hexateuch from pre¬ 
viously written source-material derogate from its in¬ 
spiration ? Does the seemingly late origin of the Hexa¬ 
teuch (in its developed form ) militate against its claim 
to be Holy Scripture ? Is it not the more to be valued 
as a collection of ancient records and narratives of early 


62 


THE IDEAS OF 


religion, communicated and transmitted orally, then 
written down at various times, and finally collected into 
a unified whole? Give a short account of your find¬ 
ings about the “documents” of the Hexateuch,—“J,” 
“E,” “D,” and “P,” in the light of your study on the 
subject. Does it seem probable, in the light of the 
evidence adduced above, that a whole novel “Code” 
could be foisted on the post-exilic community through 
the efforts of one single individual? 

164-165 

The Reputed Antagonism Between the “Prophetic 
Spirit?’ and “Legalism,” So-Called. Read Amos 5: 
21-27; Jer. 6:20; Hos. 6:6; Isai. 1:10-17. If we 
keep in mind the fundamental affirmation of pro¬ 
phetic Judaism, that the righteous God may not be pro¬ 
pitiated by the offering of innumerable sacrifices on the 
part of unrighteous men—we shall not have to invent 
and resort to the false and specious antagonism between 
the “spirit of prophecy” and the religious spirit of 
sacrificial worship. 

In the first place, every single passage in the proph¬ 
ets which seems to inveigh against sacrifice and ex¬ 
coriate the “priestly” type of “religiosity,” must be con¬ 
strued in the light of the main contention of the proph¬ 
ets : they were not declaiming against sacrifice as such, 
so much as against the attitude and point of view of 
those who would substitute sacrifice and ceremonial 
worship for all other duties of religious and moral 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


63 


law. This is the more apparent as one gives due 
weight to the Semitic idiom in which these denuncia¬ 
tions were couched: “I hate, I despise your feast 
days . . . (unless they stand for and express the re¬ 
ligious devotion of a moral and religious life)/’ 

In the second place, this whole antithesis between 
prophetic and priestly religion is the result of the pre¬ 
conceptions of certain critics, from whom emanated the 
now exploded theory of the ‘‘Priests’ Code” being im¬ 
posed as a post-prophetic overlay upon the body of 
Jewish belief and practice. The imputed antagonism 
has no foundation in fact, except in so far as it pro¬ 
ceeds from a biased and presupposed negation of the 
possibility of true spiritual religion co-existing along 
with devotion to the Law. A sufficient refutation of 
this unsupported and unscientific review of the Old 
Testament literature is furnished by the Psalms. It is 
precisely those Psalms, as, for example, Ps. 119, which 
most extol the Law (and must therefore be the most 
ultra-legalistic, by this hypothesis) which breathe the 
most exalted and most “spiritual air”. The supposed 
artificial imposition of “legalism” upon Jewish post- 
Exilic religion is the result of a clear case of specious 
reasoning, the consequence of illegitimate and unau¬ 
thorised speculation, and has no justification in any 
facts which have thus far been adduced. 

Is there anything in Thomas a Kempis’ “Imitation 
of Christ” which would suggest the antagonism between 
ceremonial religion and true spirituality? Is there 
any inconsistency between objective worship and in- 


64 


THE IDEAS OF 


dividual piety, save in the subjective prejudice of the 
critic of the facts? Is the “prophetic” spirit necessar¬ 
ily and intrinsically antagonistic to the “priestly spirit” ? 

166-167 

The Prophecy of Malachi. Read the text of the 
Prophecy and s. v. “Malachi” in H. B. D. The word 
Malachi is most probably not a proper name. The 
book would seem to suggest a condition considerably 
later than the building of the Temple, inasmuch as the 
prophet indicts priests and people for laxity, irrever¬ 
ence, and immorality. In the vein of the ancient proph¬ 
ets, he finds (1:2) the basis of the election of Israel 
not in Israel’s merit, but in God’s , love. By implica¬ 
tion, the electing love of God demands peculiar loyalty 
and steadfast devotion on the part of Israel; in the 
light of this the decadence and degeneration of the peo¬ 
ple appears peculiarly heinous. 

“The Day of the Lord” occupies a great place in the 
field of the prophet’s thought. Note how he employs 
a kind of Socratic method as the machinery of his 
teaching. 

What does the word “malachi” mean ? Is the choice 
of Israel to be found in Israel or in God? What ag¬ 
gravates the sinfulness of Israel in view of God’s voca¬ 
tion and His Providence? On what note does the 
prophecy end? Cull out certain quotations which are 
redolent with Christian connotations. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


168 

Review Studies 128-143. 

169 

Review Studies 144-158. 

170 

Review Sections IV and V. 


SECTION VI 


STUDIES 171-204 
I 7 I-I 72 

The Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Read 
v. ‘‘Wisdom” in H. B. D. 

What various meanings has the word “wisdom”? 
What is the relation of Hebrew religion to philosophy ? 
Explain the quotation from Bp. Westcott. Trace the 
development of the two-fold conception of wisdom 
(human, and divine) into the observance of the Law 
on the one hand, and into an hypostasized attribute of 
God on the other. How does “fear of the Lord” (ex¬ 
plain) come to be “the beginning of wisdom”? Ex¬ 
plain the later development of the ideas in Wisdom and 
Ecclesiasticus. 


173-174 

The Book of Proverbs. Read s. v. “Proverbs, Book 
of” in H. B. D. 

What chapters constitute the body of the book? 
What is the critical difficulty about the ascription of the 
authorship of this book to Solomon ? How would you 
define the conception of wisdom developed in this book ? 

66 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


67 


175-177 

The Content of Proverbs. Read the text of the 
book having in view the outline suggested in the art. 
in H. B. D. In a few sentences epitomize the chief 
content of each section. 

What is the literary style of the book? What re¬ 
lation would you say maintains between “wisdom” as 
portrayed in this book and “religion”? In what does 
this type of “wisdom” consist? 

178-179 

The Book of Job. Introduction. Read s. v. “Job,” 
in H. B. D., and chapters 1-3. The problem of the 
Book of Job is set by chapter 18 of Ezekiel (reread). 
Its solution is extremely interesting, and from very 
early antiquity the book was reckoned as one of the 
greatest in the literature of the O. T. As to form, the 
book is unique: it is a poem, occasionally interspersed 
with prose and set in a prose framework. The scene 
of the prose introduction pictures a typical oriental 
court (1:6 ff.), with Satan among the “sons of God” 
who are coming and going like Eastern courtiers. 
Satan intimates to God (1:9-11) that Job’s devotion is 
not disinterested. The scene of the drama is the re¬ 
sult of a kind of wager between God and Satan. Satan 
is allowed to afflict Job, after the loss of his possessions, 
with a type of elephantiasis (“mutilating leprosy”). 
The setting of the story is not in Palestine, nor is Job 
or any of the four men necessarily a Jew- Eliphaz, 


68 


THE IDEAS OF 


the Temanite, is the oldest of the three and the most 
temperate. All three,—Eliphaz, Bildad the Shuhite, 
and Zophar the Naamathite,—hold what was supposed 
to be the common conception of divine justice then 
current. 

The drama is not designed to show a development in 
Job’s character, for he does not change. It is designed, 
however, under the guise of a poem, to deal with a 
practical question of theodicy. With these facts in 
mind, prepare to read the book over as a whole, making 
notes, on the basis of your reading of the text and of 
the article in H. B. D., on the general scheme of the 
whole book. 

What is the general scheme of the Book of Job? 
What is its peculiar and distinctive literary form? 
How is the character of Satan presented? Is there 
anything conspicuously Jewish about the book so far 
as concerns setting, geography, situation, and dramatis 
personaef Is the book of Job designed to show a de¬ 
velopment in Job’s character under suffering? 

180-181 

The First Dialogue. Read 4-14. The main portion 
of the book (4-28) consists of three dialogues: (a) 
4-14; (b) 15-21; and (c) 22-28. In the first dialogue 
the three “comforters” of Job deal in turn with his case 
and his point of view, being animated by the con¬ 
sistent purpose of conforming his attitude to their type 
of orthodoxy. Three times, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zo- 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


69 


phar, take turns in combating Job, and Job deals with 
each severally (except that in dialogue (c), Zophar 
does not speak). Eliphaz is the most kindly of the 
three; Zophar, the youngest, is the most brutal and 
“cocksure/’ Their first thesis (a) is: “Evils are sent 
to punish men’s sins.” In the course of the first dia¬ 
logue the conception of punishment as retributive grad¬ 
ually gives way to that of chastisement as corrective or 
remedial. Their contention is that, since Job has suf¬ 
fered so grievously, he must have sinned deeply; for 
men of their point of view this was the inevitable con¬ 
clusion. They try to move Job to acknowledge his sin 
and express repentance. At every point Job refutes 
their argument and remains unconvinced. 

In the first dialogue how are the characters of the 
three “comforters” distinguished? What is their com¬ 
mon contention in this section? What do they seek to 
elicit from Job? What success do they have? 

182-183 

The Second Dialogue. Read 15-21. In the second 
dialogue the three “friends” are beginning to lose their 
tempers and to become more and more bitter. They 
pursue their argument even further. They paint a pic¬ 
ture of the hardened sinner; but Job refuses the im¬ 
putation. The dialogue becomes sharper and less merci¬ 
ful; more unsparing, and less kindly; Job’s assertion of 
innocence and repudiation of the suggestion of in¬ 
veterate sinfulness only the more strengthens their 


7o 


THE IDEAS OF 


conviction of the rightness of their view of him. 

How does the argument advance in the second dia¬ 
logue? What is Job’s reaction to his friends’ argu¬ 
ments? What may be said of that type of thinking 
which would force facts to conform to a preconceived 
theory ? 


184-185 

The Third Dialogue. Read 22-25 ; 26-31. The third 
section develops explicitly what has been implied, sug¬ 
gested, and hinted at in the first two: his three “com¬ 
forters” accuse Job openly of hardened and grave sin¬ 
fulness. He denies emphatically both their conclu¬ 
sion and premises. The three friends leave him ob¬ 
durate. Read 26-31. Job thereupon delivers a mono¬ 
logue, which is both retrospective and introspective, and 
reaffirms his innocence in view of the contentions of 
his three friends. The psychological and spiritual 
drama stages the conflict between the traditionally 
“orthodox” point of view and the facts of experience as 
symbolised in Job. “Why do the righteous suffer?” 
is the great difficulty. The problem is one of justify¬ 
ing God in relation to man, rather than of explaining 
the facts of experience with God left out. Thus far 
Job’s answer is: “If you don’t try to call God’s deal¬ 
ings ‘justice,’ I won’t have to call them ‘injustice.’ ” 

In this monologue Job says in substance that it is 
not justifiable to include God’s relations to us under the 
category “justice—injustice.” Our human experience, 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


7 1 


he says by implication, is our only source as to what 
these words mean, and we may not rightly apply them 
to the Infinite God. 

To what climax does the third dialogue lead? What 
is the gist of the three friends’ argument? In the 
monologue (26-31) what is the substance of Job’s an¬ 
swer? How does he puncture the fallacy in their rea¬ 
soning? What progress has the drama undergone? 

186-187 

The Elihu Section. Read 32-37. In chapter 32 a 
new character, Elihu, appears on the scene. He has 
the certainty based on a preconceived solution of the 
difficulty^ His verbosity and sophomoric wisdom fail 
to do much more than to present superficial and inade¬ 
quate answers to the problem,—such commonplaces as: 
the use of suffering as a warning to repentance and as a 
means for the cultivation and purification of character, 
and so forth. It may probably be attributed to the con¬ 
summate artistry of the writer that Elihu’s arguments 
are ignored and allowed to refute themselves, as being 
unworthy of serious attention. 

How would you describe the character of Elihu? 
Why is it that he in his blustering, cocksure, and in¬ 
sistent dogmatism fails to grapple with the difficulties 
presented by Job’s condition? What delicate sugges¬ 
tion is there in the construction of the poem, which in¬ 
dicates the writer’s sense of the futility and pointless¬ 
ness of Elihu’s contentions? 


72 


THE IDEAS OF 


188-189 

The Self-Disclosure of God. Read 38-42. The sub¬ 
lime climax of the book is reached in these chapters. 
God, from the whirlwind, meets Job’s challenge. God’s 
revelation of Himself draws attention not only to the 
divine almightiness and wisdom, but to His tender love, 
and to His Divine Providence over all things created. 
Job now for the first time sees God in his true light 
(42:5), and is morally convinced. The vision of God 
has brought repentance (42:6), which was unattainable 
by means of argument. (Cf. Isaiah 6, and St. Luke 
5:8.) Reread chapter 19 (marg.), and see whether 
the suggestion of the future life, as a compensation for 
the evils of this existence, has been brought into in¬ 
tegral relation with the chief problem of the book. Re¬ 
member that the writer of this book did not have the 
expedient of subsidiary and secondary causes to resort 
to, in dealing with his problem. Due to this fact the 
difficulty of theodicy is sharpened into its most extreme 
form: if you must seek for evidence of God’s justice in 
the treatment of conspicuously righteous men and their 
experience, you are driven either (a) to deny His jus¬ 
tice or (b) to deny that He concerns Himself with hu¬ 
man affairs. Yet a larger solution is implied negatively, 
but not stated explicitly: the human mind cannot com¬ 
prehend or understand that which is essentially a mys¬ 
tery; the soul, however, serene in the vision of God, 
can pass through difficult impediments both of limited 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


73 

reason and circumscribed experience, to the sublime 
affirmations of faith. 

Is the revelation of God in these chapters fitly de¬ 
scribed as an instance of “moral brow-beating” ? What 
is it that the disclosure of God’s omnipotence is pre¬ 
sumed to effect ? What is the practical reaction of man 
to the realised fact of the Providence of God? In 
what sense is Job “changed” by the vision of God? 
Does this revelation impair his conviction of his inno¬ 
cence or does it bring about an enlargement of his 
horizon in which he no longer finds himself or his own 
problems central? Set down in brief form your own 
interpretation of the denouement of the drama. 

190-191 

The Song of Songs. Read the text through after a 
preliminary reading of the art. “The Song of Songs” 
in H. B. D. 

What was the original meaning of this collection of 
Hebrew poetry ? What new meaning attached to it, by 
reason of which this book came finally to be included in * 
the canon ? When was it made canonical ? What is its 
approximate date? In what respect is it unique as a 
piece of literature among the books of the Old Testa¬ 
ment? 


I9 2_I 93 

The Book of Ecclesiastes. Read s. v., “Ecclesiastes” 
in H. B. D., and then study the text of the book. 


74 


THE IDEAS OF 


What is the author’s outlook on life? How may 
he be described as “The Gentle Cynic” ? What 
are the main religious conceptions of the book? 
Why may it be said that its chief value lies in its 
deficiences ? 


I94-I95 

The Prophecy of Joel. Read s.v., “Joel, Book of” 
in H. B. D., and the text of the prophecy itself. 

What difficulties are there in the way of ascertaining 
an accepted date for Joel? What double set of para¬ 
doxes are there in the prophecy (cf. § 5 in H. B. D.) ? 
Outline the prophecy. 


1 96-197 

The Day of the Lord. Read Joel 2: 18-27, and s. v. y 
“Day of the Lord” in H. B. D. 

Trace the conception from Amos to Joel. What 
relation had it to the idea of the Day of Judgment? 
What later development did it undergo? 

198-200 

The Book of Esther. Read the text after study of 
the art. v. “Esther, Book of” in H. B. D. 

What is the purpose of the book? In the light of 
the conviction of the “preservation of the holy seed” 
for the coming of one who was to fulfil Gen. 3: 14-15, 
why is Esther 4:14 particularly significant? What 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 75 

conspicuous peculiarity of this book distinguishes it 
from all the other O. T., books ? 

201-202 

The Book of Jonah. Read the text of the Book of 
Jonah and s. v. “Jonah” in H. B. D. We have seen 
the gradual and painful development of prophetic 
thought, lifting, as by a kind of hydraulic pressure, the 
dead inertia of popular religion from one level to that 
next higher, with great toil and effort. The age-long 
exclusiveness of the Jew and implicit security of spir¬ 
itual position became an ever-present obstacle to the 
realisation of the full implication of universal mono- 
thesim. 

The Book of Jonah represents a heroic attempt to 
deal trenchantly and directly with the dead weight of 
particularistic Jewish exclusiveness. The chief pur¬ 
poses of the prophecy are two: (a) to bring into ex¬ 
plicit cognizance and sharper relief an important prin¬ 
ciple of prophecy often taken for granted —the con¬ 
ditional element in God’s dealings with man; (b) by 
the gourd episode (4: 5-11), to teach, picturesquely 
and vividly, the great truth that may be stated in the 
words: “God desireth not the death of a sinner but 
rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live.” 
God’s almighty love is universal in its scope and ex¬ 
tends to every creature. 

What basis have we for dating the Book of Jonah? 
What Christian use has been made of the story of 


76 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


Jonah and the big fish (cf. Jonah 1: 14-2: 10; St. Matt. 
12: 39-41; 16: 4; St. Luke 11: 29-32) ? State in your 
own terms the two great theses of the prophecy of 
Jonah. 

203 

Review Studies 164-181. 

204 

Review Studies 182-193. 


SECTION VII 


STUDIES 205-240 
205-207 

Apocalyptic Literature. Read s. v. “Apocalyptic 
Literature” in H. B. D. We have already noticed in 
the prophetic literature the emergence of the teleolog¬ 
ical aim. In fact, it is one of the chief characteristics 
of the so-called “historical literature” of the O. T. 
that the author so presents his data as to indicate the 
purpose of God in history. 

The older prophecy was often concerned with politi¬ 
cal events, such as the coming judgment upon people 
for their sins. Such prophecies were directed to the 
consciences of the prophet’s contemporaries and in this 
connection they had a certain predictive element: a 
warning addressed to the people by reference to similar 
judgments in the past. In the Persian period some of 
the prophecies were concerned with the coming restor¬ 
ation,—cf., for example, Zech. 9 ff., and Isa. 24-27. 
These sections represent the transitional type, which 
may be termed “apocalyptic prophecy.” 

In the pure type of apocalyptic literature there are 
several noteworthy elements: (a) the seer is some 
77 


78 


THE IDEAS OF 


famous man of the remote past, (b) who sees the 
history of the world as in a vast panorama, divided in¬ 
to periods. (Towards the end it becomes fuller and 
more detailed as the picture has to do with the time of 
the author, as contrasted with the fancied and imagined 
one of the seer.) (c) The end, that is the last 
chapters, usually describes a great tribulation,— 
the last dark hours before the dawn of deliver¬ 
ance. Apocalypses have been called “tracts for bad 
times.” 

Another characteristic, which is common in Apoc¬ 
alyptic literature but not universal, is the interest of 
the author in proving that the end of the present order 
of things is at hand; this he does usually on the basis 
of some sort of mathematical calculation. 

Outline, in a paragraph, the development of apoc¬ 
alyptic out of prophetic literature, and describe its 
chief characteristics. 


208-209 

Zechariah, Read Zech. 9-14; and s. v. “Zech., Book 
of” in H. B. D. On the basis of your reading, discuss 
and summarise the contents of the Apocalyptic 
prophecy given in this appended section to the original 
book (Zech. 1-8). 

How do these chapters conform to the general type 
of apocalyptic prophecy? Why are we led to believe 
that they form an utterly different work than chapters 
1-8? 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


79 


2I0-2II 

Daniel. Read Dan. 1-6, and s. v. "Daniel, Book of” 
in H. B. D. The purpose of the stories in these chap¬ 
ters, partly Hebrew and partly Aramaic, is to point the 
moral that faithful adherence to religion brings divine 
interposition as a reward. 

On the basis of your reading discuss (a) the contents 
and (b) authorship of chapters 1-6 in succinct para¬ 
graphs. 


212-213 

The Apocalypse of Daniel. Read Daniel 7-12, and 
s. v. “Daniel” in H. B. D. The four beasts (7:) are 
the four empires (cf. v. 23) : Babylonia, Medea, Persia, 
and that of Alexander. The last is subdivided (“ten 
horns”,—v. 24). The “little horn” (8: 9) is Antiochus 
Epiphanes; the two-horned ram and the he goat (8: 
3 ff., 8) are the Medeo-Persian Empire and Alexander 
of Macedon (9:2). There is a computation of time 
on the basis of Jer. 25: 12. The “seventy years” of 
Daniel 9:2 are not calendar, but sabbatical years (cf. 
Lev. 26:34 ff.). Thus the “seventy years” (9:24) 
are sub-divided into: “seven weeks” (49 years) before 
the restoration of the Temple, and sixty two and a 
half weeks (4863/2 years), from the destruction of the 
Temple to the erection of the “abomination of deso¬ 
lation” (Dec. 168,—the erection of the altar of Zeus in 
the Temple), then, after three and a half years, is to 
come the deliverance. Chapter xi is an excellent his- 


8 o 


THE IDEAS OF 


torical summary given in detail; vs., 40, 45 probably 
refer to Antiochus. 

(a) Write a brief paragraph on the Apocalyptic 
elements in this section of Daniel; (b) summarise 
briefly, on the basis of your reading, the reasons which 
suggest the dates 167-165 b. c. for the prophecy of 
Daniel. 


214-215 

The Psalms. Sometime in the Persian or the Greek 
period there was compiled a Hymn Book,—the Book 
of Psalms. Like all other hymn books its value and 
usefulness depended upon its being kept up to date. 
The present complete collection had been preceded 
by other collections and in the aggregate this collection 
of five books of Psalms represents the contributions of 
a long sweep of Hebrew religious thought and expe¬ 
rience, from the seventh to the first century b. c. 
There are many critical problems of great interest con¬ 
nected with the Psalms. The division into five books 
is artificial and late, as is the alteration in the first two 
books of the name of God : J H V H was excised and 
Elohim substituted. There are a number of liturgical 
and musical directions which are all most obscure 
(Selah probably comes from the Greek psalle, but as a 
musical direction was as uncomprehensible to the LXX 
translators as it has been to subsequent generations). 
Attempts were made throughout Hebrew antiquity to 
date and discover the occasions for the several Psalms. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


81 


Some of the Psalms are probably as late as the Mac- 
cabean struggle (168-164 b. c.). The attempt to find 
allusions in the Psalms to historical events is highly 
speculative and most precarious. 

So far as we know, the Book of Psalms was not 
drawn upon for the lectionary of the Synagogue. 
Yet as a hymn book its influence was enormous. In 
later Synagogue worship the Psalms were utilised for 
liturgical use, and many of the Psalms furnished 
models for prayers in later as well as in earlier 
times (cf. the prayers in Nehemiah and Daniel). 

What is one of the essential characteristics of a liv¬ 
ing liturgical use (cf. The Book of Common Prayer, 
containing collects from St. John Chrysostom to Bp. 
Huntington) ? What reason have we for saying that 
the Psalter was drafted for liturgical use? 

216-217 

Hebrew Poetry. Read s. v. “Poetry” in H. B. D. 
Besides the parallelism common to all Hebrew poetry, 
there was a certain rhythmic swing which constituted 
one of its essential characteristics. It is doubtful that 
we can say that there was any kind of metrical or scan- 
sional character in Hebrew verse, inasmuch as we can¬ 
not be certain of the accentuation of the ancient He¬ 
brew. The so-called “accents” serve at least two pur¬ 
poses,—the vocalisation of the text, and the indication 
of musical modulations and inflections. 

What four types of parallelism have been observed 


82 


THE IDEAS OF 


in Hebrew poetry? What are some of the characters 
of Hebrew poetry which distinguish it from prose? 
Read carefully and examine the Magnificat,, the Nunc 
Dimittis, and the Benedictus. How do these poems 
illustrate the principles of Hebrew verse? How do 
they compare with the Psalms as examples of Hebrew 
poetry ? 


218-219 

The Origin and History of the Psalter. Read s. v., 
“Psalms,” §§ 1 and 2 (do not spend much time upon 
the fine print division, “Titles of the Psalms”), in H. 
B. D. 

How many Psalms are there in the LXX? What 
difference in division and enumeration appears in the 
LXX and Vulgate, on the one hand, and in the Hebrew 
and English versions, on the other? What do the 
doxologies suggest ? What seven groups or stages 
may be discerned in the compilation of the Psalter ? 

220-221 

The Dates and Authorship of the Psalms. Read s. v. 
“Psalms,” §§ 3 - 5 , in H. B. D. 

What are the approximate dates for the development 
and final collection of the Psalms? Which Psalms 
are supposed to be Maccabean? Discuss briefly the 
question of the Davidic Psalms. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


83 


222-223 

The “I” of the Psalms. Read § 6, in art. in H. B. 
D, and look up every reference. It is precisely this 
group of Psalms which has been found to have the 
greatest value for personal religion. 

Ponder over and discuss briefly the question of the 
“I” of the Psalms. What conclusions seem to you 
most probable? 


224-225 

The Use of the Psalter in the Christian Church. 
The day and night offices of both the Eastern and 
Western branches of the Catholic Church were origin¬ 
ally based solely upon the recitation of the Psalter. In 
very early times there flourished, as we can see re¬ 
flected in St. Paul’s Epistles, the expectation of the 
immediate return ( Parousia ) of our Lord. So de¬ 
voted groups of the early Christians assembled together 
the night before great feast days to spend the time in 
prayer. These occasions developed liturgically into 
the vigil offices of the Church, which form matins and 
lauds of the later breviary offices. A few centuries 
later the Psalter was divided into parts so as to be 
read through once each week, thus becoming the 
heart and core of Christian Prayer and Praise. 

Upon what scheme do the daily offices of Morning 
and Evening Prayer assign the portions of the Psalter 
to be read? What divergence in principal from 


8 4 


THE IDEAS OF 


pre-Reformation usage does this division embody ? 
How essential is the Psalter in modern Christian 
worship ? 


226-227 

The Religious Value and Content of the Psalms. 
Read s. v. } “Psalms” § 7 in H. B. D. 

What are the six chief ideas of abiding and funda¬ 
mental religious value which the Psalter contains? 
For what reason have these ideas become a normative 
standard of spiritual experience and religious self- 
expression ? 


228-229 

The Messianic Expectation of the O. T. Read s. v. y 
“Messiah,” §§ I-II, in H. B. D. 

What caution must be used in studying the O. T. 
evidence for messianic expectation? What does the 
word messiah mean ? What is the significance of Gen. 
3:15 and Deut. 18:15-19? In connection with this 
topic comment in succession upon: Isaiah 7: 10-17; 9: 
6-7; n: 1-9; 33: 14-24; Micah, 4: 1-5; 5: 2-5; Jere- 
miah, 33: 14-16. Where is the term “messiah” ap¬ 
plied to Cyrus? What development in the conception 
did apocalyptic literature affect? Compare art. s. v. 
“Kingdom of God (or Heaven)” in H. B. D. § 1. 
What development did this idea contribute ? 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


85 


230 

Review Studies 196-204. 

231 

Review Studies 205-220. 


232 

Review Section I. In the light of your present 
knowledge reconsider and correct your note-book. 


Review Section II. 

233 

Review Section III. 

234 

Review Section IV. 

235 

Review Section V. 

236 

Review Section VI. 

237 

238 

Make a brief summary as to the most significant and 


important results of your study, under the following 


86 


THE OLD TESTAMENT 


topics: informational, philosophical, historical, critical, 
spiritual. 


239-240 

Complete and revise your note-book, verify ref¬ 
erences, and correct earlier mistakes in the light of your 
knowledge acquired later. 
































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